File photo of Kumar Mangalam Birla
Two days after the Central Bureau of Investigation filed a First Information Report against top industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla in relation to coal scam, corporate leaders today said businessmen cannot be made scapegoats on the basis of mere suspicion.
"Such developments dent the national psyche and dampen investor confidence, both domestic and foreign," Ficci President and senior banker Naina Lal Kidwai said.
"Capable and highly regarded business leaders cannot be made scapegoats of mere suspicion and misconstrued actions," she added.
Another senior industry leader Adi Godrej said the Birla issue has further created a negative perception in the country, which was already vitiated by cases like Vodafone, and the country risks edging towards a scenario where it would lose investors' confidence with such incidents.
Kanoria Chemicals CMD RV Kanoria also said that the government needs to recognise the role played by businesses in the economy.
"If we can just implement the policy framework and create a positive environment our country has an immense potential," he added.
The action against the chairman of the USD 40-billion Aditya Birla group has also come in for criticism by some union ministers, including Corporate Affairs Minister Sachin Pilot and Trade and Industry Minister Anand Sharma.
Other industry leaders who have criticised the action include Deepak Parekh and Ajay Piramal, as also industry chambers like Assocham and PHD Chamber of Commerce.
The CBI earlier this week filed a case against Mr Birla as a representative of Aditya Birla Group and his group company, aluminium maker Hindalco, for alleged corruption in the allocation of two Talabira coal blocks in Odisha which was allotted to it on November 10, 2005.
The agency also named former Coal Secretary PC Parakh in the FIR on charges of criminal conspiracy and corruption in connection with alleged irregularities in allocation of coal blocks eight years back.