Coalgate FIR: Don't think CBI understands case, says Parakh

Facing a probe in connection with the coal block allocation scandal, former coal secretary PC Parakh has said the PM should also be probed by the CBI and said he doubted whether the investigating agency had the courage to do what was right.

“Every one involved in the decision is a conspirator. The PM has more responsibility than anyone else since he could have overruled me,” Parakh told CNN-IBN in an exclusive interview today.

“I won’t say PM is the main conspirator. All three of us are conspirators but I would say higher responsibility lies with the PM,” the former bureaucrat said.

Parakh said that if he and industrialist KM Birla could be the subject of a probe by the CBI, the former minister of state for coal Dasari Narayan Rao should also be questioned since the file for the coal block allocation had also gone through him.

Rao is already facing investigations for his alleged involvement in the coal block allocation scandal for allegedly illegally allocating a block to Jindal Steel and Power.

Parakh said that Aditya Birla Group Chairman, Kumar Mangalam Birla, had met him regarding the allocation of the Talabira II coal block in the Jasukuda district of Orissa. Birla contended that they had made a representation for the coal block first and therefore deserved to get it.

The former coal secretary said that Birla had made a representation to the Prime Minister’s office which had been sent to him and he had found merit in it.

He denied that he had been pressurised by anyone in the Prime Minister’s office to allocate the coal blocks.

“At no point was I pressurised by anyone in the PMO. All the decisions taken were my own and I take responsibility for it,” he said.

Parakh said that the Prime Minister had faced pressure from his Coal Minister and Minister of State for coal to shift him from his post.

“They were opposed to all my suggestions for transparency,” he said.

The former bureaucrat blamed the CBI for a poor understanding of the coal block allocation case, which had resulted in the FIR against him and Birla being filed.

“I don’t know if the CBI is being used or if it doesn’t have enough courage to do what is right,” Parakh said.

The former bureaucrat said that as per his analysis the investigating agency was unable to make the distinction between fair decisions and wrong ones.

“I don’t think the CBI is unable to appreciate the issues of this case,” he said.

Parakh said that the CBI’s decision to file a case against him could only make it more difficult for younger IAS officials to take decisions.

“My view is the CBI should relook its case and scrap it,” he said.