CBI files fresh closure report on Birla in coal scam

A month after a rap from the court for its “hurry” in winding up the case, the CBI on Tuesday filed a revised closure report in a coal block allocation scam case involving business tycoon Kumar Mangalam Birla and former coal secretary P C Parakh.

The agency filed a “detailed and comprehensive” report before Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar, who posted the matter for November 10.

The fresh closure report came after the court chided the agency on September 12 for the hurry in closing the case in which a FIR was registered against Birla, Parakh and others. The court also found that the CBI did not provide all the documents. The CBI had filed the closure report on August 28.

CBI had registered the case on October 15 last year alleging that Birla and others entered into a “criminal conspiracy with one another and public servants by abusing their positions as such showed undue favour to an Odisha-based Industry in allocation of Talabira II and Talabira III coal blocks along with a Public Sector Undertaking of Tamil Nadu”. The registration of the case saw angry reaction from the corporate world and bureaucrats.

The agency had alleged that Neyveli Lignite Limited was to be given Talabira II block but Parakh allegedly favoured Hindalco and allowed it to share the block with Neyveli. The case had dragged the Prime Minister’s Office under Manmohan Singh into the case after Parakh pointed out that he was following orders from the then Prime Minister who was also in-charge of Coal Ministry. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had also officially approached the PMO seeking allocation for Hindalco.

Though CBI questioned Parakh, then Principal Secretary to Prime Minister T K A Nair, Hindalco officials and others, they did not call Singh or Birla as no evidence emerged against them.