New Delhi:
Government sources have admitted that the Law Ministry did hold "consultations" with the Central Bureau of Investigation on the coal scam case. But they say this consultation was advisory in nature and no pressure was exerted on the CBI to alter its status report to the Supreme Court. The government faces allegations that Law Minister Ashwani Kumar and officials in the Prime Minister's Office may have vetted and altered the report.
Here are the top 10 developments:
The CBI today said in a statement that it is under no pressure as it preps to file an affidavit in court; the Supreme Court has asked it to state in writing that its status report submitted to the court on March 8 this year, was not reviewed by "the political executive" before it was shared with judges. (Read)
The CBI's decision to hire its own lawyer has provoked speculation on whether the agency will, in its affidavit, take a stand different from that of the government, whose lawyer, Additional Solicitor General Harin Rawal denied in court that the government has seen the document. Mr Rawal will continue to represent the government, while the CBI will be represented by UU Lalit.
The government sources said today that there was no way that Law Minister Ashwini Kumar could have vetted the CBI report as it is a classified document shared between the CBI and the court.
The sources said that the consultations that it held with the CBI in the case were an on-going process that began when it started investigating the case and were not a one-off meeting.
They emphasised that the Law Ministry does not have any control over the CBI and if it is consulted by a government agency, department or ministry, it may offer advice - much like a lawyer would to his client - but that advice is not binding.
The government sources argued that the fact that the CBI has been highly critical of the government in its report to the court proves there has been no interference.
The CBI told the Supreme Court that private firms had misrepresented information to win coal licenses and that the government had not verified their credentials.
The scandal is damaging for the Prime Minister because for some of the years under review, he was in direct charge of the Coal Ministry.
The Opposition has said the controversy exposes what it has always alleged - that the CBI is influenced and misused by the government and that it's putative independence is a farce. The BJP has also sought Ashwani Kumar's resignation.
The government was first hit by allegations of "Coal-Gate" scandal when its auditor said in March 2012 that the country lost Rs. 1.86 lakh crore because coal fields were allocated without a transparent bidding process.
Post a comment