Coal Scam: PM should offer to depose before CBI, says BJP

Stepping up pressure, BJP today demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should himself offer to depose before CBI in the coal block allocations case to come clean and pressed for immediate registration of FIR on the issue of missing files.

Raising the issue in Lok Sabha, BJP leader Sushma Swaraj refused to accept government's contention that the files were missing and said it is a case theft, which needs to be probed.

She said there should not be any pressure on the probe agency.

"It is a matter of theft. That is why there should be an immediate FIR," she said, adding "Government should tell us by when an FIR will be lodged."

Swaraj said in case the government did not register the FIR, it would be construed that it has much to hide.

"The Prime Minister is coming under cloud...If the Prime Minister wants to see himself come clean on this issue, he should himself come forward and offer to depose before the CBI," she said.

Swaraj said that of all scams, like irregularities in the Commonwealth Games preparations and 2G Spectrum allocation issue, the one pertaining to the coal block allocations was the most important.

Thus there should be filing of an FIR to show that there was no pressure on the CBI, she said.

Targeting the Prime Minister on the issue, Swaraj said the Prime Minister is in the dock over the coalgate scam as all controversial allocations happened when he held additional charge of the Coal Ministry from 2006 to 2009.

Quoting media reports, she said, a key CBI official has demanded that there was need to "examine" the Prime Minister.

"Prime Minister is in the dock. He was the in-charge minister when controversial coal block allocations happened. When are you going to file FIR on missing files? It is a serious issue. There should not be any pressure on CBI," Swaraj said.

She said there are reports that the Attorney General has admitted that files pertaining to coal block allocations have gone missing and demanded that a list of all files that are missing be prepared.