Manmohan moves SC to stay Coalgate summons
27 March 2015 5:26 AM IST
Hindalco chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla and former Coal Secretary PC Parakh, who were also summoned as accused in the case, have also filed petitions challenging the trial court order.
Singh, along with industrialist Kumar Mangalam and former Coal Secretary were summoned as “accused” in the case during a hearing on March 11. All of them were asked to appear before the court on April 8.
The CBI special court had observed that Singh was roped into the criminal conspiracy to “accommodate” Hindalco in Odhisa’s Talabira-II coal block allocation in 2005, owned by Aditya Birla Group. Beside top brass, the court also summoned M/s Hindalco’s two including Shubhendu Amitabh and D Bhattacharya, as accused in the case.
“Prima facie it is clear that the impugned criminal conspiracy which was initially conceived by Shubhendu Amitabh and D Bhattacharya and Kumar Mangalam Birla and Hindalco was carried out further by roping in P C Parakh, who was Secretary (Coal), and thereafter the then Minister of Coal, Dr Manmohan Singh,” Special CBI judge Bharat Parashar had said in his 73-page order.
“It is also prima facie clear that though Coal Secretary and Minister of Coal were playing different roles, there was a concerted effort to somehow accommodate Hindalco in Talabira-II, coal block. It was the central common objective of the impugned criminal conspiracy known to all concerned,” the judge’s order said.
“His (ex-PM) approval of the proposal put-forth by P C Parakh vide his note dated September 12, 2005, to accommodate Hindalco in Talabira-II and III coal block while ignoring the words of caution put forth by K V Pratap and Javed Usmani, the two officers of PMO in their notes dated September 21, 2005, and September 26, 2005, respectively regarding relaxation of the already approved guidelines, again prima facie shows that there was a conscious effort on his part to somehow accommodate Hindalco in Talabira-II coal block,” he had said.
All of them were charged with punishable offences under Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant, or by banker, merchant or agent) of the IPC and under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA). If found guilty, they might face punishment up to life imprisonment.
This is not the first time a former PM has been summoned as an accused in a criminal case. Late PM P V Narasimha Rao was made an accused and chargesheeted in three different cases, including in the JMM MPs bribery case, but was acquitted in all of them. Earlier on December 16, 2014, in this case while rejecting CBI’s closure report on coal scam, the special court asked the probe agency to
examine Singh.
Singh, along with industrialist Kumar Mangalam and former Coal Secretary were summoned as “accused” in the case during a hearing on March 11. All of them were asked to appear before the court on April 8.
The CBI special court had observed that Singh was roped into the criminal conspiracy to “accommodate” Hindalco in Odhisa’s Talabira-II coal block allocation in 2005, owned by Aditya Birla Group. Beside top brass, the court also summoned M/s Hindalco’s two including Shubhendu Amitabh and D Bhattacharya, as accused in the case.
“Prima facie it is clear that the impugned criminal conspiracy which was initially conceived by Shubhendu Amitabh and D Bhattacharya and Kumar Mangalam Birla and Hindalco was carried out further by roping in P C Parakh, who was Secretary (Coal), and thereafter the then Minister of Coal, Dr Manmohan Singh,” Special CBI judge Bharat Parashar had said in his 73-page order.
“It is also prima facie clear that though Coal Secretary and Minister of Coal were playing different roles, there was a concerted effort to somehow accommodate Hindalco in Talabira-II, coal block. It was the central common objective of the impugned criminal conspiracy known to all concerned,” the judge’s order said.
“His (ex-PM) approval of the proposal put-forth by P C Parakh vide his note dated September 12, 2005, to accommodate Hindalco in Talabira-II and III coal block while ignoring the words of caution put forth by K V Pratap and Javed Usmani, the two officers of PMO in their notes dated September 21, 2005, and September 26, 2005, respectively regarding relaxation of the already approved guidelines, again prima facie shows that there was a conscious effort on his part to somehow accommodate Hindalco in Talabira-II coal block,” he had said.
All of them were charged with punishable offences under Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant, or by banker, merchant or agent) of the IPC and under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA). If found guilty, they might face punishment up to life imprisonment.
This is not the first time a former PM has been summoned as an accused in a criminal case. Late PM P V Narasimha Rao was made an accused and chargesheeted in three different cases, including in the JMM MPs bribery case, but was acquitted in all of them. Earlier on December 16, 2014, in this case while rejecting CBI’s closure report on coal scam, the special court asked the probe agency to
examine Singh.
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