Coal news and updates

CBI summons ex-coal secy Parakh on April 25

To question him on granting Orissa coal block to Hindalco.

A day after CBI questioned former minister of state (coal) Dasari Narayan Rao in connection with the coal block allocation scandal, the probe agency Tuesday summoned former coal secretary P C Parakh for questioning on April 25.

Parakh was summoned in connection with a case relating to alleged abuse of official position in granting a coal block in Orissa to Hindalco, a company of Aditya Birla Group, whose chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla has been named by the agency in its FIR.

According to agency officials, there was a difference in opinion among top CBI officers supervising the probe on summoning Parakh as they argued it will give undue publicity to his latest book in which he has criticised CBI and its chief Ranjit Sinha for acting in haste. A senior officer also said, “We were not ready with the questions that had to be asked to him and wanted more time before calling him.” Later, it was decided that the probe needed to expedited due to the upcoming hearing in the Supreme Court.

Parakh is learnt to have expressed inability to appear before the agency in April and and said he can only meet them in May. The agency is expected to question him on reversing the decision on allocation and thus harming the interest of PSU Neyveli Lignite Limited by giving coal block to Hindalco. It may also quiz him on the circumstances that led to the decision of the Screening Committee being changed.

The Screening Committee had allotted the Talabira-II coal block to Neyveli Lignite Limited but the decision was changed by Parakh after he received a request — by Kumar Mangalam Birla — from the Prime Minister’s Office for reconsideration of the decision. CBI had last year registered a case against Parakh and Birla, besides unknown officials of Hindalco and coal ministry.

In its FIR, the agency alleged that during 2005, these persons entered into a criminal conspiracy and the then public servant abused his position. According to the FIR, Neyveli Lignite Limited was to be given Talabira II block but Parakh allegedly favoured Hindalco and allowed it to share the block with Neyveli leading to notional loss to the exchequer.

Giving a clean chit to the PMO as well as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that no pressure had been applied on him, the former coal secretary had said in his book that the decision was taken for the better interest of the nation. He also denied any quid pro quo as alleged by the CBI in its FIR.

Source: The Indian Express