Coalgate: BJP ‘welcomes’ quizzing of Manmohan; Govt says it has ‘no role’
New Delhi: CBI has examined Aditya Birla group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla in connection with alleged irregularities in the allocation of Talabira-II coal block to his company Hindalco in 2005.
The agency has also examined former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the case earlier this week.
The CBI’s questioning of Birla, named as an accused in the FIR, came after a special court raised questions over the closure report filed by the agency which has not been accepted.
Birla was said to have been examined over his meetings with the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was also holding charge of coal portfolio, and the then Coal Secretary P C Parakh, another accused in the case.
When contacted, Birla group declined to comment on the development. CBI Joint Director (Policy), who is in-charge of media relations, R S Bhatti did not answer phone calls and sms in this regard.
The agency has also questioned former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Principal Secretary TKA Nair and private secretary BVR Subramanyam in connection with the case.
Meanwhile, BJP has said it “welcomes” the questioning of Manmohan Singh by CBI in the coal scam as it maintained that the former prime minister cannot shy away from responsibility even as the government led by the saffron party rejected charges that the action was a “vindictive” one.
Singh’s party Congress, however, insisted that it was “wrong” to say that he was “questioned” by CBI as the former prime minister had offered to cooperate with the investigations and had provided whatever information was sought in the interests of justice.
“BJP welcomes CBI’s questioning of Singh, who held the coal portfolio when most of the irregularities in coal scam took place,” said BJP spokesperson GVL Narsimha Rao.
Meanwhile, in the wake of reported allegations by some Congress leaders that the questioning of Singh was a “vindictive” act on its part, the government today came out to say that it had no role in the matter.
“The government has no role at all… Congress is speaking in two voices. While one person says (the examination) is vindictive, another spokesperson says it is part of a legal process. They (Congress leaders) should sit down and decide on what to speak… It is the hobby of Congress to go into a disinformation campaign without knowing what they are saying,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said.
Clarifying that “nobody has charged Singh with corruption”, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said that the ex-PM, however, was “the signatory for all the illegal allocations” and therefore “cannot shy away from responsibility”. (PTI)