Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (file pic)
Hours after the Prime Minister said he is willing to be questioned by the CBI about an alleged coal scam that has engulfed his government, the BJP reiterated its demand for his resignation over what has been dubbed "Coal-Gate."
"The PM had said he was willing to be questioned for the telecom (2G) scam as well, but that didn't happen," said BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar, referring to another corruption scandal that has dogged the government. The BJP has repeatedly said that because the PM held direct charge of the Coal Ministry for some of the years under scrutiny, he must be held accountable for Coal-Gate and made to resign.
Sources in the CBI say that the agency will seek its cue on whether to question Dr Manmohan Singh from the Supreme Court, which is monitoring the coal investigation and is set to hear the case on the 29th of this month.
"If there is anything that the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) or for that matter anyone, wants to ask, I have nothing to hide," Dr Singh said last night aboard his plane as he returned from a visit to Russia and China.
Last week, the CBI, which is investigating alleged corruption in the allocation of coal licenses, named leading industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla and former coal secretary PC Parakh as suspects.
The Prime Minister approved the deal under investigation, which enabled Mr Birla's Hindalco company to mine from a state-owned block in 2005. Dr Singh's office has said the contract was "entirely appropriate."
His office has been asked by the CBI to submit all documents relevant to the contentious allocation to Hindalco.
Investigators say first they will question the officials who handled the Hindalco files in the Prime Minister's Office. They said they will seek details like the names of the officers who processed the file before it was sent to the PM.