M A I N   N E W S

PM took final decision on allocations: Ex-Coal Secy
Says Manmohan should be named conspirator
Suresh Dharur/TNS

Hyderabad, October 16
Denying any wrongdoing in the allocation of coal blocks, former Union Coal Secretary Prakash Chandra Parakh, who has been named in the FIR by the CBI, dropped a bombshell when he said that it was Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who took the final call on the allocations.

“If I have done anything wrong, then Prime Minister who took the final call is also equally responsible. If the CBI has come to conclusion that allocation of Talabira coal blocks (in Odisha) to Hindalco was a conspiracy, then they should have made the Prime Minister also as an accused,” he said.

A 1969-batch IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre, Parakh was appointed the Coal Secretary in March 2004. After retirement in December 2005, he has made Hyderabad his home. Dismissing the FIR by the CBI as “baseless”, he said “In its investigations, CBI is unable to make a distinction between bona fide decisions taken in public interest and wrong decisions.”

If the investigating agency had smelt a conspiracy in allocation of coal blocks, then the Prime Minister should be an accused too since he had approved the decision, the retired bureaucrat said. "It is strange that CBI should question my bona fides, when I initiated several measures to bring transparency in the coal sector despite several odds," he said.

Parakh's remarks came in the backdrop of the latest FIR filed by the CBI against Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla, NALCO, HINDALCO and Parakh. Cases of cheating, forgery and financial misrepresentation have been filed. The case pertained to allocation of coal block in Talabira in Jasakuda district of Odisha to Aditya Birla Group.

The FIR has surprised many observers as Parakh, a geologist-turned civil servant, was initially described as the whistleblower in the coalgate case.

PM must quit: BJP

Matter sub-judice: Govt

• The government, on its part said the matter was sub-judice and hit out at the BJP for being "irresponsible".
• Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari said the government has already provided all documents to the CBI and if anybody has to say anything, it should be at an appropriate forum and at an appropriate time.

— Prakash Chandra Parakh, ex-Coal Secy