PMO, Law Minister, AG changed Coalgate report : CBI Affidavit

May 7, 2013 

Representational image (Courtesy : Niti Central)

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh claimed he was in the dark and knew nothing about his Ministers and Law Officers tampering with the CBI’s status report on its investigation in the Coalgate scam. Law Minister Ashwani Kumar said he had merely corrected the grammar of the report.  Attorney-General GE Vahanvati told the Supreme Court he was not present at the meeting where the report was discussed and amended.

All those claims and assertions now stand exposed as factually incorrect. In other words, the Prime Minister and his men have been less than truthful to the people of India. Harsh critics would say they have been caught lying.

On Monday, CBI Director Ranjit Sinha admitted before the Supreme Court that crucial changes were made in the draft Coalgate investigation status report on suggestions given by Ashwani Kumar, Vahanvati and officials of the PMO and Coal Ministry.

The key change that was made amounted to deleting the incriminating reference in the CBI’s draft affidavit to the absence of weightage criteria and screening charts in the allocation of coal blocks.

The Opposition was up in arms, demanding the immediate resignation of Ashwani Kumar. Another tainted Minister in Manmohan Singh’s team, Railway Minister Pawan Bansal, also known for his proximity to the Prime Minister and whose nephew was caught red-handed accepting Rs.90 lakh in bribe money from a Railway Board member, is now in the line of the Opposition’s fire. His resignation has also been sought.

In a stinging statement, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley have torn into the brazen attempt by the Prime Minister and his men to whitewash the Coalgate scam. They have also highlighted why Pawan Bansal must resign or be sacked.

The Congress, true to tradition, has decided to brazen it out. The party has decided not to sack the two Ministers. As for the Prime Minister, he appears to have abandoned the fig leaf of integrity and stands disrobed of even notional probity.

To distract popular attention from the latest scandal to hit the scam-tainted UPA Government headed by Manmohan Singh, the Congress tried to push through the Food Security Bill in Parliament although it was not listed as part of the day’s business. Nor had its introduction been discussed and agreed upon at Monday’s Business Advisory Committee meeting. The entire Opposition united to protest and stall the Congress’s dirty trick.

What the CBI affidavit says

1. CBI director Ranjit Sinha was first called for a meeting with Law Minister Ashwani Kumar and AG G E Vahanvati in the first week of Feb '13. It was decided that the status report, which had not been prepared then, should be submitted in a sealed cover.

2. On March 6, Ashwani Kumar sought two changes at a meeting with Sinha, which was also attended by Vahanvati and then ASG H P Raval. First, "tentative" finding about "non-preparation of chart by screening committee" was deleted. Second, "a sentence about scope of inquiry with respect to illegalities of allocation while amendment to law was in process" was deleted.

3. On March 6 afternoon, CBI jt director O P Galhotra and DIG Ravikant took the report to Vahanvati, who "glanced through" it and "made certain observations". He "suggested certain minor changes" but neither asked for, nor was given a copy of "final" report.

4. The same evening, PMO jt secy Shatrughna Singh and Coal Ministry jt secy A K Bhalla met Galhotra. They suggested two changes. First, "tentative" finding about non-existence of a system regarding allocation of specific points was deleted. Second, a statement on "non-existence of approved guidelines for allocation of coal blocks" from 1993-2005 was added.