New Delhi:
The coal investigation, which has provoked calls for the Prime Minister's resignation, is delivering another jolt for the government.
Sources in the CBI say that the agency will tell the Supreme Court that it has been refused permission by the government to interrogate HC Gupta, the former Coal Secretary, who the CBI is treating as an accused.
Mr Gupta headed the screening committee that allocated valuable coal fields to private players with a process that has been faulted as arbitrary and lacking in transparency, according to the CBI. Investigators have told the Supreme Court that the committee also did not maintain adequate records of how it issued coal licenses.
Mr Gupta headed this team from 2006 to 2009, when the Prime Minister held direct charge of the Coal Ministry. He is the first government official to be treated as an accused by the CBI which has so far named only private firms and their directors in the 11 FIRS filed so far.
Mr Gupta is currently one of the six members of the Competition Commission of India, whose parent body is the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Because he works with a government agency, the CBI needs clearance to question him.
What's also significant is that agency officials say they have already examined members of the Prime Minister's Office, but at some point will formally question all those that made file notings on coal allocations.
The Supreme Court has already criticized the joint secretary in the Prime Minister's Office, JS Shatrughan Singh, for reviewing a report prepared by the CBI for the Supreme Court and making "significant" deletions.
Last month, Ashwani Kumar was forced to resign as Law Minister amid allegations that he tried to influence the CBI's investigation, allowing the opposition to claim that the government is trying to engineer a cover-up.
Sources in the CBI say that the agency will tell the Supreme Court that it has been refused permission by the government to interrogate HC Gupta, the former Coal Secretary, who the CBI is treating as an accused.
Mr Gupta headed the screening committee that allocated valuable coal fields to private players with a process that has been faulted as arbitrary and lacking in transparency, according to the CBI. Investigators have told the Supreme Court that the committee also did not maintain adequate records of how it issued coal licenses.
Mr Gupta headed this team from 2006 to 2009, when the Prime Minister held direct charge of the Coal Ministry. He is the first government official to be treated as an accused by the CBI which has so far named only private firms and their directors in the 11 FIRS filed so far.
Mr Gupta is currently one of the six members of the Competition Commission of India, whose parent body is the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Because he works with a government agency, the CBI needs clearance to question him.
What's also significant is that agency officials say they have already examined members of the Prime Minister's Office, but at some point will formally question all those that made file notings on coal allocations.
The Supreme Court has already criticized the joint secretary in the Prime Minister's Office, JS Shatrughan Singh, for reviewing a report prepared by the CBI for the Supreme Court and making "significant" deletions.
Last month, Ashwani Kumar was forced to resign as Law Minister amid allegations that he tried to influence the CBI's investigation, allowing the opposition to claim that the government is trying to engineer a cover-up.
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