PC Parakh puts blame on the Prime Minister
17 Oct 2013 6:19 AM IST
A day after the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) booked former coal secretary PC Parakh and industrialist KM Birla for corruption in connection with the coal scam, the former lashed out at the agency and said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should be named as an accused too since he was in the charge of coal ministry during that period.
Parakh said it was the Prime Minister who endorsed the decision to allocate two coal blocks in Odisha to a company owned by industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla, and if the CBI believes that was the result of a nefarious scheme, then the Prime Minister must be counted among the conspirators. ‘The PM cleared the decision... he is the final decision-maker,’ he said.
The opposition BJP on Wednesday termed as ‘not surprising’ remarks of ex-coal secretary that the Prime Minister must be counted as a ‘conspirator’ and said he should make public how allotments were made when PM was in charge of coal ministry.
‘The time has come for Parakh to speak up. He has spoken a little, he should come out clean now, make public statements of how files were disposed off at that time (when the PM was in charge of coal ministry),’ party leader Yashwant Sinha said.
On the CBI’s allegations that Parakh over-turned the original decision to allocate the coal blocks to a state-run firm in favour of Birla’s Hindalco Ltd, which makes aluminium, Parakh said, ‘Both the state-run firm and Hindalco were equally eligible.’
‘Mr Birla told the PM that they were the first applicant and were equally eligible and competent and that their request has been unfairly rejected. He also met me and made a similar representation. I found there was merit because they (Hindalco) were the first applicant,’ Parakh said, adding that, ‘There is no wrongdoing in the decision which was taken.’
Birla and Parakh have been accused by the agency of conspiring to accommodate Hindalco Ltd in mining of Talabira II coal block in Odisha which was allocated to Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC), a public sector unit on 10 November 2005. The registration of the FIR is now being seen as an attempt to deflect the investigations from the real persons involved in the coal scam.
A senior CAG official was of the opinion that Parakh’s integrity was unquestionable. ‘This is nothing but an attempt to deflect the focus from the real persons involved and this can hardly be the case. It was PC Parakh who pushed for the entire transparency drive in coal allocation after observing volatile prices and possibility of windfall gains,’ the official said, adding: ‘Parakh’s integrity is undoubtedly supreme.’
The CBI is probing alleged irregularities in the allocation of 192 coal blocks which were made between 1993 and 2011. The agency has registered three preliminary enquiries relating to allocations between 2006 and 2009, allocations between 1993 and 2004 and allocations given to joint ventures.
Parakh said it was the Prime Minister who endorsed the decision to allocate two coal blocks in Odisha to a company owned by industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla, and if the CBI believes that was the result of a nefarious scheme, then the Prime Minister must be counted among the conspirators. ‘The PM cleared the decision... he is the final decision-maker,’ he said.
The opposition BJP on Wednesday termed as ‘not surprising’ remarks of ex-coal secretary that the Prime Minister must be counted as a ‘conspirator’ and said he should make public how allotments were made when PM was in charge of coal ministry.
‘The time has come for Parakh to speak up. He has spoken a little, he should come out clean now, make public statements of how files were disposed off at that time (when the PM was in charge of coal ministry),’ party leader Yashwant Sinha said.
On the CBI’s allegations that Parakh over-turned the original decision to allocate the coal blocks to a state-run firm in favour of Birla’s Hindalco Ltd, which makes aluminium, Parakh said, ‘Both the state-run firm and Hindalco were equally eligible.’
‘Mr Birla told the PM that they were the first applicant and were equally eligible and competent and that their request has been unfairly rejected. He also met me and made a similar representation. I found there was merit because they (Hindalco) were the first applicant,’ Parakh said, adding that, ‘There is no wrongdoing in the decision which was taken.’
Birla and Parakh have been accused by the agency of conspiring to accommodate Hindalco Ltd in mining of Talabira II coal block in Odisha which was allocated to Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC), a public sector unit on 10 November 2005. The registration of the FIR is now being seen as an attempt to deflect the investigations from the real persons involved in the coal scam.
A senior CAG official was of the opinion that Parakh’s integrity was unquestionable. ‘This is nothing but an attempt to deflect the focus from the real persons involved and this can hardly be the case. It was PC Parakh who pushed for the entire transparency drive in coal allocation after observing volatile prices and possibility of windfall gains,’ the official said, adding: ‘Parakh’s integrity is undoubtedly supreme.’
The CBI is probing alleged irregularities in the allocation of 192 coal blocks which were made between 1993 and 2011. The agency has registered three preliminary enquiries relating to allocations between 2006 and 2009, allocations between 1993 and 2004 and allocations given to joint ventures.
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