On Board PM's Special Aircraft: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said he was ready for questioning by CBI in connection with the controversial allocation of part of a coal block to Hindalco, saying he was not above the law.
"I am not above the law of the land. If there is anything that the CBI, or for that matter anyone, wants to ask, I have nothing to hide," Singh said when asked if he was open to being questioned by the investigating agency which has lodged an FIR against industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla and former coal secretary P C Parakh for alleged corruption and conspiracy in the allocation of Talabira II coal block to Hindalco.
The PM was talking to journalists while returning from visits to Moscow and Beijing.
Although Singh had in a statement issued by the PMO on Saturday taken responsibility for the Talabira II allocation to Hindalco and strongly rejected all charges of wrongdoing, the interaction with media on board his special aircraft on Thursday was the first instance when he spoke out on the issue, expressing his readiness to face the CBI.
The assertion is significant in view of the estimate that CBI, having registered an FIR for alleged corruption and conspiracy on the basis of its preliminary investigation into why the original decision not to allocate Talabira coal block to Hindalco was reversed, will have to talk to all the persons concerned, before it takes a call on what to do with the probe.
The PM had on Saturday defended the Talabira II allocation as "appropriate" and "based on merits of the case" placed before him". Sources in CBI had reacted to this by saying that they may be required to "interview" functionaries in the PMO who constituted the "competent authority" for allocation of coal mines.
The opposition has consistently maintained that CBI cannot conduct a fair investigation into the Coalgate scam concerning the allocation of coal mines without questioning the PM as it was he who held charge of the coal ministry between 2006 and 2009 when many of the allegedly irregular allocations were made. It has claimed that Singh's stepping forward to accept responsibility for the allocation of a chunk of Talabira II to Hindalco had validated their demand.
Asked if the political dimension that scams like Coalgate has acquired will cast a shadow on his legacy after nearly 10 years as prime minister, Singh said, "That is for history to judge, I am doing my duty. I will continue to do my duty. What impact my 10 years of prime ministership will have is something for historians to judge."
Singh also denied that 2G, Commonwealth and coal scams, along with price rise, had contributed to the popularity of BJP's PM candidate Narendra Modi while hitting his credibility as well as that of the government, saying the 2014 poll results will surprise sceptics.
"I would say the scams you are referring to took place not in UPA-2, they took (place) in UPA-1. After that we had a general election. The Congress party won in that elections hands down and I am sure when the results of 2014 get out, the country will once again be surprised," he said.
The coal ministry had originally turned down Hindalco's bid for a share in Talabira II deposits on the ground that it was marked by PSUs like Neyveli Lignite Corporation and Mahanadi Coalfields Limited. However, a review of the decision was initiated after Singh, who also held charge of the ministry, received a letter from Birla.
With Odisha minister Naveen Patnaik also writing to the PM seeking the Sambhalpur coal block for Hindalco, the coal ministry altered the screening committee's view by accommodating the private firm as the third partner in a joint venture with Neyveli Lignite and Mahanadi Coalfields with a 15% stake.
CBI has filed an FIR against Birla and former coal secretary P C Parakh on the ground that the decision of the screening committee was illegally altered to favour Hindalco. The agency has sought relevant files from the PMO this week, and sources in the agency continue to maintain that giving Hindalco access to Talabira II deposits without consulting Neyveli Lignite was prima facie wrong and needed to be probed. -TOI
"I am not above the law of the land. If there is anything that the CBI, or for that matter anyone, wants to ask, I have nothing to hide," Singh said when asked if he was open to being questioned by the investigating agency which has lodged an FIR against industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla and former coal secretary P C Parakh for alleged corruption and conspiracy in the allocation of Talabira II coal block to Hindalco.
The PM was talking to journalists while returning from visits to Moscow and Beijing.
Although Singh had in a statement issued by the PMO on Saturday taken responsibility for the Talabira II allocation to Hindalco and strongly rejected all charges of wrongdoing, the interaction with media on board his special aircraft on Thursday was the first instance when he spoke out on the issue, expressing his readiness to face the CBI.
The assertion is significant in view of the estimate that CBI, having registered an FIR for alleged corruption and conspiracy on the basis of its preliminary investigation into why the original decision not to allocate Talabira coal block to Hindalco was reversed, will have to talk to all the persons concerned, before it takes a call on what to do with the probe.
The PM had on Saturday defended the Talabira II allocation as "appropriate" and "based on merits of the case" placed before him". Sources in CBI had reacted to this by saying that they may be required to "interview" functionaries in the PMO who constituted the "competent authority" for allocation of coal mines.
The opposition has consistently maintained that CBI cannot conduct a fair investigation into the Coalgate scam concerning the allocation of coal mines without questioning the PM as it was he who held charge of the coal ministry between 2006 and 2009 when many of the allegedly irregular allocations were made. It has claimed that Singh's stepping forward to accept responsibility for the allocation of a chunk of Talabira II to Hindalco had validated their demand.
Asked if the political dimension that scams like Coalgate has acquired will cast a shadow on his legacy after nearly 10 years as prime minister, Singh said, "That is for history to judge, I am doing my duty. I will continue to do my duty. What impact my 10 years of prime ministership will have is something for historians to judge."
Singh also denied that 2G, Commonwealth and coal scams, along with price rise, had contributed to the popularity of BJP's PM candidate Narendra Modi while hitting his credibility as well as that of the government, saying the 2014 poll results will surprise sceptics.
"I would say the scams you are referring to took place not in UPA-2, they took (place) in UPA-1. After that we had a general election. The Congress party won in that elections hands down and I am sure when the results of 2014 get out, the country will once again be surprised," he said.
The coal ministry had originally turned down Hindalco's bid for a share in Talabira II deposits on the ground that it was marked by PSUs like Neyveli Lignite Corporation and Mahanadi Coalfields Limited. However, a review of the decision was initiated after Singh, who also held charge of the ministry, received a letter from Birla.
With Odisha minister Naveen Patnaik also writing to the PM seeking the Sambhalpur coal block for Hindalco, the coal ministry altered the screening committee's view by accommodating the private firm as the third partner in a joint venture with Neyveli Lignite and Mahanadi Coalfields with a 15% stake.
CBI has filed an FIR against Birla and former coal secretary P C Parakh on the ground that the decision of the screening committee was illegally altered to favour Hindalco. The agency has sought relevant files from the PMO this week, and sources in the agency continue to maintain that giving Hindalco access to Talabira II deposits without consulting Neyveli Lignite was prima facie wrong and needed to be probed. -TOI
But....he will decide what questions CBI can ask?!
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