File photo of coal miners
An officer in the coal ministry, who had been slammed by the Supreme Court for tinkering with the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) probe report in the coal scam, has now been tasked with hunting for the "missing coal files."
AK Bhalla, Joint Secretary in the ministry of coal, is a part of a search committee which was set up after the CBI complained that some crucial files related to the coal allocation scam were missing.
In March, during a meeting called by the then Law Minister Ashwani Kumar, which was attended by CBI director Ranjit Sinha and the country's top law officer Attorney General GE Vahanvati, three "significant changes" were made to a draft of the CBI coal report which was meant to be for the Supreme Court's eyes only. Mr Bhalla was part of the officers who made the changes which the Supreme Court observed "changed the heart of the report."
Speaking to NDTV, Aam Aadmi Party's Prashant Bhushan said, "Hundreds of files have gone missing under Coal Minister Sri Prakash Jaiswal's watch yet he continues. Mr Bhalla is denying investigation for a subsidiary. Mr Jaiswal has given him seven extensions. What government is being maintained by this PM?"
Meanwhile, the Coal Ministry wrote to the CBI today countering their charge of missing files by saying that many were already with the agency.
CBI officials, foxed by the ministry's letter, will now relook at their own records, sources have told NDTV.
The coal ministry's reply came after at least half a dozen reminders by the CBI. The agency says they are missing all the application forms of coal block allocations and even crucial documents like the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) recommending the allocation to Congress MP Vijay Darda, who is charged with cheating and forgery by the CBI.
Government sources have also been rebutting the number of missing files with some officials saying that the near 225 number suggested by the CBI may be exaggerated. According to the government's figures, only seven were missing - out of which only two pertained to post 2004, sources add.
The CBI said as they had 30 officials working on coal investigations, they all gave separate requests for missing files. In today's letter, the Coal Ministry also said that they were going to continue looking for those files which were still missing.