01 june 2012
Coal-Gate: CBI says yes to preliminary inquiry
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| Dr Sanjay Kumar Cardiac Cardiothoracic Heart Surgeon India |
New Delhi: The CBI will conduct a preliminary inquiry
into the scam that's been nicknamed Coal-Gate. The alleged swindle has
provoked a new and sharp confrontation between the Prime Minister and
the group of activists referred to as Team Anna. Dr Manmohan Singh has
said he will resign if "even an iota of truth" is found in the
allegations against him.
The CBI's inquiry is based on a complaint filed by BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Prakash Javadekar. He had approached the Central Vigilance Commission or CVC which forwarded his complaint to the CBI. The CBI's mission so far does not name anyone; it says the inquiry is against "unknown officials of the coal ministry." The inquiry will also not probe government policy. It will look at how 156 companies were allotted 65 coal blocks, and whether these companies were ineligible and violated the terms of their contracts.
Team Anna alleges that the Prime Minister misused his position during 2006-2009 to allot coal fields at highly under-valued rates to private players. The PM was in charge of the Coal Ministry during this time. Team Anna says he ignored advice from bureaucrats to auction the coal fields. A preliminary report by the government's auditor believes that the decision to avoid an auction cost the government 1.8 lakh crores.
The Prime Minister's Office issued a detailed rebuttal of these
allegations through a press statement earlier this week. It said that
coalfields were intended to boost development, industry and
infrastructure, not revenue.
The CBI's inquiry is based on a complaint filed by BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Prakash Javadekar. He had approached the Central Vigilance Commission or CVC which forwarded his complaint to the CBI. The CBI's mission so far does not name anyone; it says the inquiry is against "unknown officials of the coal ministry." The inquiry will also not probe government policy. It will look at how 156 companies were allotted 65 coal blocks, and whether these companies were ineligible and violated the terms of their contracts.
Team Anna alleges that the Prime Minister misused his position during 2006-2009 to allot coal fields at highly under-valued rates to private players. The PM was in charge of the Coal Ministry during this time. Team Anna says he ignored advice from bureaucrats to auction the coal fields. A preliminary report by the government's auditor believes that the decision to avoid an auction cost the government 1.8 lakh crores.
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