Coal scam: CBI set to quiz Kumar Mangalam Birla next week

Tightening the noose on Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla, sleuths of the Central Bureau of Investigation will next week quiz the industrialist as he is named in the FIR in the alleged coal block allocation scam. Officials of Hindalco, which is a part of the group, have already been examined by CBI. According to a CNN-IBN report, this development has come on a day when the investigating agency filed closure reports in the in the FIR against JLD Yavatmal Energy and Jas Infrastructure LTD claiming lack of enough evidence to suggest criminality. Congress MP Vijay Darda is linked to both these firms. [caption id=“attachment_1489997” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla. Reuters[/caption] Meanwhile, former coal minister Dasari Narayan Rao has also been questioned by the CBI in connection with the coal blocks allocation case. Rao has been accused of favouring Hindalco in allocation of coal blocks and is likely to be questioned again in the coming days. Soon after Birla was named in the FIR last year, he had held a series of meetings with Finance Minister P Chidambaram although the subjects of discussion were not disclosed in the open. CBI had in last month completed the questioning of former principal secretary to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his now key adviser, TKA Nair. CBI had registered a case naming 46-year-old Birla, Parakh and unknown officials of Hindalco and the coal ministry last year under various sections pertaining to criminal conspiracy and corruption for alleged irregularities in the allocation of two coal blocks nine years back. The agency will examine Birla to find out whether it should file a charge sheet or move a closure report. Former coal secretary PC Parakh is also likely to be questioned by the investigating agency. The agency had last month sent a questionnaire to Nair, Advisor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who in return sent replies to the CBI. The questions included those on coal policy and allocation of coal blocks when the prime minister was in charge of the coal ministry between 2006 and 2009. The replies of Nair were sought on delay in auctioning of coal blocks, missing coal files and events leading to the Talabira coal block being given to Hindalco in which Parakh and Birla have been named. Nair, according to the sources, had responded on lines similar to the one made by Singh in Parliament in which he had defended the coal blocks allocation and rejected charges of wrong doing. Hindalco had denied allegations of irregularities, claiming, “we wish to state unambiguously that we have followed every process required for allocation of coal completely, as stipulated by the Government policy.” “This relates to media reports on an FIR naming Hindalco and our Chairman on coal issues. Apparently, this seems to be part of a larger case entailing coal allocation to companies, and being one of the companies, we are being investigated also,” it had said. The CBI alleged that during the year 2005, these persons entered into a criminal conspiracy and then public servant (Parakh) abused his position and showed undue favour to the Odisha-based industry in allocation of Talabira II and Talabira III coal blocks along with a Public Sector Undertaking of Tamil Nadu. According to the FIR, Tamil Nadu government PSU Neyveli Lignite Limited was to be given Talabira II block but Parakh allegedly favoured Hindalco and allowed it to share the block with Neyveli leading to notional loss to the exchequer. The agency could not reach exact quantum of loss as the coal block is still not operational. The blocks were allocated for power production during a meeting of Screening Committee of the Coal Ministry, the sources said and claimed that the coal allocation was meant for PSUs only. Parakh faces charges of criminal misconduct under the Prevention of Corruption Act as also criminal conspiracy. The former coal secretary had also denied any wrong doing and had said, “There is absolutely nothing wrong with the decision. It was a very fair and correct decision that we took. I don’t know why CBI thought that there is a conspiracy.” With PTI input