CBI steps up heat on Birla, tells SC payments were made to politicians

The Central Bureau of Investigation appears to have decided to keep the pressure on Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla, submitting to the Supreme Court a diary it recovered from the group’s offices on October 16. The diary, the CBI has said, contains lists of about 1,000 payments made over a 10-year period to politicians and Members of Parliament across party lines. A report in The Indian Express says the diary was recovered during the agency’s 16 October raids on the offices of the group. [caption id=“attachment_127055” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Kumar Mangalam Birla[/caption] The CBI had named Birla and former Coal Secretary PC Parakh in an FIR charging them with criminal conspiracy and corruption in connection with the allocation of coal blocks eight years ago in the Talabira block, Odisha. The block, meant for PSUs Mahanadi Coalfields and Neyveli Lignite, was eventually allotted to Hindalco. According to the report, “The dates on which these payments have been made, sources said, are around the time of two Lok Sabha elections and several elections of state Assemblies.” One more diary recovered by Income Tax department sleuths also shows receipts adding up to almost Rs 100 crore. A Birla spokesperson is quoted as having told The Indian Express that it would not be appropriate for them to comment. Early in November, Kumar Mangalam Birla met Finance Minister P Chidambaram for the second time in less than three weeks. “As of now, I am not worried about it. There is nothing wrong (that) has been done, so why should one worry?” he had told reporters.