New Delhi:
The government, already seared by the scandal referred to as "Coal-Gate" is reconsidering whether to allow a senior bureaucrat to be questioned by the CBI as part of its investigation.
NDTV reported last week that the CBI had been refused permission to interrogate HC Gupta, who was the Coal Secretary when licenses were issued to companies too cheaply, allegedly costing the government thousands of crores.
From 2006 to 2009, Mr Gupta headed a government screening committee that assigned coal mining rights. The CBI has said the group functioned without transparency and failed to conduct required background checks on firms who gave false information about their finances and technical expertise.
Mr Gupta is now head of a government agency, the Competition Commission of India , which reports to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. The ministry's rejection of the CBI's request to question him has been cited by the opposition as the government's latest attempt to shield the Prime Minister, who held direct charge of the Coal Ministry for some of the years under investigation.
A new request by the CBI has been made with more details of its allegations against Mr Gupta, and is likely to be sanctioned said sources. "Mr Gupta is a senior IAS officer who has a good, clean reputation and we didn't want him to be harassed unless there were substantial grounds for his questioning,'' said a senior ministry official.
In another uncomfortable development for the government, the CBI today named former minister of state for coal Dasari Narayan Rao and Congress MP Naveen Jindal in a new case as part of its investigation.
NDTV reported last week that the CBI had been refused permission to interrogate HC Gupta, who was the Coal Secretary when licenses were issued to companies too cheaply, allegedly costing the government thousands of crores.
From 2006 to 2009, Mr Gupta headed a government screening committee that assigned coal mining rights. The CBI has said the group functioned without transparency and failed to conduct required background checks on firms who gave false information about their finances and technical expertise.
Mr Gupta is now head of a government agency, the Competition Commission of India , which reports to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. The ministry's rejection of the CBI's request to question him has been cited by the opposition as the government's latest attempt to shield the Prime Minister, who held direct charge of the Coal Ministry for some of the years under investigation.
A new request by the CBI has been made with more details of its allegations against Mr Gupta, and is likely to be sanctioned said sources. "Mr Gupta is a senior IAS officer who has a good, clean reputation and we didn't want him to be harassed unless there were substantial grounds for his questioning,'' said a senior ministry official.
In another uncomfortable development for the government, the CBI today named former minister of state for coal Dasari Narayan Rao and Congress MP Naveen Jindal in a new case as part of its investigation.
