Files not direct responsibility of PM: Cong

Hitting back at BJP for its attack on Manmohan Singh over the coal issue, Congress today said the files are not the direct responsibility of the Prime Minister and it is not for him to make clarificatory comments in terms of where they were.

Party spokesperson Sandip Dikshit also said Singh walked a long way "getting beyond the call of duty" and made a statement on the issue as demanded by the Opposition to save time in the House due to disruptions.

"I think he made a great show of statesmanship in the statement he made and that should be appreciated," he said.

The Congress spokesperson also rejected the contention that the files were deliberately misplaced.

"First of all, all these files were with the CAG. The CAG has not made any comment about any single page of these files missing. When these files were reported to be missing, one of the officers of the CAG had said that these files are already with us. So if somebody wants a copy, copies can be taken.

"So first of all had the government been attempting to hide anything, it would have started with this CAG. CBI came much much later. Therefore anybody making any comment that anybody was trying to hide something or keep something away is completely wrong," Dikshit said.

BJP leader leader M Venkaiah Naidu earlier alleged the government was trying to cover up the issue of missing files relating to coal block allocations.

Singh's statement in Parliament on the issue today led to an uproar in both Houses and stalling of proceedings for rest of the day as the Opposition expressed dissatisfaction.

They wanted to seek more clarifications but were upset as the Prime Minister left soon after making the statement in both Houses.

Dikshit, who is a member of Lok Sabha, while feigning ignorance about the practice in Rajya Sabha, said that as far the Lower House is concerned it is very clear there that after the statement of the Prime Minister no discussion takes place.