Coal-Gate: Prime Minister's Office gives Birla case file to CBI, takes receipt

New Delhi: The Prime Minister's Office has handed over to the CBI all documents on the allocation of two coal blocks to a firm owned by Kumar Mangalam Birla. The entrepreneur and the government's former Coal Secretary PC Parakh have been accused by the CBI of criminal conspiracy and cheating.

The Prime Minister, who endorsed the contract in 2005, has said he is willing to be questioned by the CBI.  "I have nothing to hide," he told reporters last night.  Earlier this week, his office described the deal as "entirely appropriate"

Sources say that the Prime Minister's Office sought and received a receipt from the CBI in exchange for the file on the contentious allocation of the coal blocks to Mr Birla's firm, Hindalco.  

In the last few months, the government has been censured repeatedly by the Supreme Court over missing files. The court is monitoring the CBI's investigation into  alleged irregularities in the distribution of coal licenses, which cost the country 1.86  lakh crores, according to the national auditor.

The opposition has said that because the PM held direct charge of the Coal Ministry for some of the years under investigation, the PM must resign. It says the case involving Mr Birla's firm proves the PM's accountability.

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Sources in the CBI say that investigators will review the documents submitted today in detail to decide which member of the Prime Minister's Office handled the Hindalco case, and should be questioned. Sources also say that amid speculation over whether the PM will be questioned, the CBI is hoping to take its cue from the Supreme Court which will next hear the case on the 29th of this month.

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