Additional Solicitor General Harin Raval
Hours before a crucial Supreme Court hearing on whether the government tried to influence the CBI's investigation into the coal scam, new and grave allegations have surfaced from one of the government's top legal officers.
Additional Solicitor General Harin Raval has written to Attorney General GE Vahanvati, accusing him of trying to shape not just this but other cases being handled by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
In March, Mr Raval told the Supreme Court that the CBI's coal report, submitted in a sealed cover, had not been seen by anyone from the government. It's an assurance that could land him in a lot of trouble.
In his letter, Mr Raval says that he is being made a "scapegoat." "On account of your statement, I felt embarrassed and was forced to take a stand in the court consistent with your submission made as Attorney General for India that the contents of the status report were not known to you and that they were not shared with the government," the letter says.
(Read full letter)
Sources say Mr Raval is likely to resign soon, and that his letter is meant to explain why the spectre of misconduct has lurked around him.
Last week, the CBI confessed in court that before its report was submitted to judges, it had been vetted by the Law Minister, Ashwani Kumar, and an official each in the Coal Ministry and the Prime Minister's Office.
The Opposition said this was incontrovertible proof of the government's misconduct, and has since been demanding the Prime Minister's resignation.
With his letter, Mr Raval has just turned up the dial several searing notches.
He says that it was the Attorney General who sent him an SMS asking him to attend a meeting on March 6 at the office of the Law Minister. Also present were CBI Director Ranjit Sinha and the CBI officer directly in charge of the coal investigation, OP Galhotra.
At this session, the Law Minister reportedly suggested several changes to the report, which was given to the Supreme Court on March 8.
On March 12, the Supreme Court asked the CBI chief to state in writing that the documents had not been seen by anybody from the "political executive."
Last week, the CBI director shared the list of officials who had seen the report.