JOIN USThe CBI’s hunt for 257 files pertaining to the controversial coal block allocations, of which decisions on some were taken when the prime minister held the coal portfolio, has added ammunition to the arsenal of the Opposition, which paralysed Parliament on Tuesday, asking Manmohan Singh to come clean.
The casualty of the controversy was the National Food Security Bill, as the BJP stalled the proceedings of the Lok Sabha demanding a statement from the prime minister on the disappearance of the files. The Rajya Sabha was also stalled by agitated BJP members on the issue.
The government sought to salvage the situation with a statement by Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal, but doubts persist over the fate of the CBI investigation, as some of the missing files were crucial to pinpointing the culprits in the allocations during 1993-2004 and 2006-2009.
Jaiswal promised to “leave no stone unturned” in tracing the documents sought by the CBI and said his ministry had already given the agency 769 files and documents, running into 1.5 lakh pages. However, the Opposition maintained that the real story “may be hidden” in the missing files.
CBI Director Ranjit Sinha said he had written to the Coal Ministry in May seeking the files, but received no response. CBI sources said 257 files, of which nearly are 150 from between 1993 and 2004, in which 45 coal blocks were allocated, are missing. They added that some of the missing files pertain to the 13 FIRs registered by the CBI in connection with allocations during 2006-09.
The untraceable files include a report by Coal India Ltd's financial experts on the 35th screening committee's meeting pertaining to allocations made in 2007, when the prime minister held the coal portfolio. This report could explain whether mines were given to the deserving. Records of another 157 private companies are also missing.
In the Rajya Sabha, Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley questioned Jaiswal making a statement and demanded a statement from Singh, citing media reports that one of the minister’s relatives had been allocated a coal block.
“Files don't disappear, they are made to disappear. The files contain evidences of arbitrary allotments. The evidence of crime is in those files. If files disappear, the possibility of their escaping punishment for a crime is obviously there,” said Jaitley. “Will you (Jaiswal) please tell us the list of those companies whose files have been made to go missing or disappear? Who are these people who are the beneficiaries?”
CPM’s Sitaram Yechury asked Jaiswal if any FIR had been registered over the missing files.
Rajya Sabha Deputy Leader of the Opposition Ravi Shankar Prasad alleged that some of the missing files pertained to companies associated with Congress members.
In the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, referring to the prime minister’s statement in the House a year ago, when he had taken “full responsibility for the decisions” taken by the coal ministry, said, “Since the prime minister himself had made the statement in the House, I would urge you to ask the government to ensure that he himself come and tell us where the files have gone.”