Coalgate: CBI may record PM's statement on Hindalco allocation

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) may record Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s statement with regard to the allocation of the Talabira Block II to Hindalco. [caption id=“attachment_118604” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The PMO has said the allocation to Hindalco was on merit. PTI[/caption] According to a report in the Economic Times, a senior CBI official has said that following the 14th FIR in the coal blocks allocation scam in which Aditya Birla group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla was named along with former coal secretary PC Parakh, the agency will “go up the whole chain” as per the Criminal Procedure Code. The CBI had filed an FIR against AV Birla group company Hindalco, its chief Kumar Mangalam Birla and former coal secretary PC Parakh, among others, alleging criminal conspiracy in allocating the coal block already given to two public sector units. The investigative agency has, in its FIR, alleged that Parakh had reversed the steering committee’s earlier decision to allocate the block to PSUs after a meeting with Birla. The FIR kicked up a storm as it was seen as an attempt to protect Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who held the coal portfolio when the allocation took place. As per procedure, Birla and Parakh will be questioned. “Next to be questioned will be coal ministry and PMO officials who remain unnamed in the FIR, but were involved in the process of putting up a proposal… Ultimately, CBI will need to record the PM’s statement as he as coal minister approved the allocation,” the official was quoted as saying in the report. The PMO had on Saturday clarified that the decision to reverse the decision and finally allot the block to Hindalco was taken on merit. The ET report says CBI officials believe the PMO’s statement merits seeking a clarification. Needless to say, in the event that the CBI does indeed record Singh’s statement either via a questionnaire or in person, the political fallout would be immense with the opposition getting more fodder for its attack on the UPA. Meanwhile the CBI is set to file its status report with regard to its investigations into the scam.