New Delhi, March 22
The Central Bureau of Investigation has questioned TKA Nair, Adviser to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, over alleged irregularities in the allocation of coal blocks. As the agency prepares its submission before the Supreme Court later next week, CBI sources said a detailed questionnaire had been sent to Nair, which was replied by him.

The questions included those on coal policy and allocation of coal blocks when the Prime Minister was in charge of the coal ministry between 2006 and 2009.

Nair’s replies were sought on delay in auctioning of coal blocks, missing coal files and events leading to the Talabira coal block being given to Hindalco in which the CBI has registered a case against then Coal Secretary PC Parakh and Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla.

The block was granted to Hindalco in spite of it being rejected by a screening committee of the Coal Ministry.

The CBI would now inform the SC about the replies sent by Nair. The agency has already examined two former PMO officials - Vini Mahajan and Ashish Gupta - who were posted in the PMO between 2006 and 2009. Mahajan, a 1987-batch IAS officer from Punjab cadre, was a director with the PMO during the period. — PTI