Coal Scam: probe stalls as CBI awaits files from ministry

Agency Yet To Get ‘Hundreds’ Of Documents
New Delhi: More than five months after the CBI began investigating Coalgate, the agency is yet to receive hundreds of files from the coal ministry as it probes charges of criminality in the allocation of coal blocks to private players.

Although the CBI has been sifting through an enormous mass of information regarding coal block allocations that the CAG has said caused a loss of Rs 1.86 lakh crore to the government, the investigation agency is being impaired by lack of access to relevant files.

Closely questioned by Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Wednesday, CBI director Ranjit Sinha told the panel that information sought by the agency had not been made available.

WHO’S BEHIND THE DELAY?

• Five months into Coalgate probe, CBI yet to get more than 100 files from coal ministry
• Bid to unearth 1.86 lakh crore loss to govt impaired by non-availability of files.
• CBI director Ranjit Sinha hints to joint parliamentary committee that ministry may be deliberately hampering probe.
• Agency investigating 194 allocations since 1993; many available files old and poorly maintained.

Coal ministry’s excuse:

• Officials responsible for certain coal block allocations transferred or retired.
• JPC feels probe slow because of sheer volume of papers to be scrutinized, but CBI claim of delaying tactics serious Coal ministry cites ‘absence’ of officials for delay.

Although he did not suggest that the ministry was stonewalling investigations, he implied that the probe was being hampered. Files with regard to some 40 coal blocks are awaited. Sinha faced a volley of questions from Congress MPs Saifuddin Soz and Sanjay Nirupam, Janata Dal (United)’s N K Singh and BJP’s Prakash Javadekar about the slow progress of investigations. In response, Sinha said non-availability of official records and short staffing were important reasons for the delay.

The official record is required to probe key aspects of coal block allocations like a comparative analysis of applicants that led a screening committee set up under the supervision of the Prime Minister’s Office to select a particular firm ahead of others. Coalgate revelations stung the Manmohan Singh government with the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) noting that the PMO had approved the steering committee route for coal block allegations and investigations revealing that crucial minutes of the panel’s meetings failed to disclose the rationale for the allocations.

CBI sources said Coalgate investigations seemed to have hit a roadblock with the agency awaiting files. Many of the files received relate to allocations in the 1990s and are old and poorly maintained. “Some of the files are about allocations made between 1993 and 2004 and are in a bad condition. We have sent reminders to the ministry about other files,” said an official.

The agency is investigating some 194 allocations since 1993, and is finding the going tough. “We are yet to receive files related to allocations made in states like Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, West Bengal and all PSUs like Coal India, Nalco, Steel Authority of India and electricity boards apart from ultra mega power projects,” said the source.

Some of the reasons advanced by the coal ministry are that officials responsible for certain decisions have been transferred or have retired. Companies booked by the CBI so far include JAS Infrastructure Capital Pvt Ltd, AMR Iron and Steel Pvt Ltd, JLD Yavatmal Energy Ltd, Navbharat Power Ltd, Vini Iron and Steel Udyog Ltd, Grace Industries Ltd, Vikash Metal and Power Ltd, Green Infrastructure Ltd and Kamal Sponge Steel and Power Ltd. One of the cases the CBI is investigating relates to AMR Iron and Steel, a firm that has drawn comment about alleged links of its promoters with coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal. AMR’s Arvind Jayaswal has been questioned about his contacts with former minister of state for coal Santosh Bagrodia and the role of Congress Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Darda in the allocations.

Sriprakash Jaiswal has denied any business links with AMR. But his role as an arbitrator in a family dispute led the opposition to allege Jaiswal’s links with the company. The CBI is probing allegations of AMR incorrectly claiming to be a special purpose vehicle of Darda’s Lokmat group and not revealing previous scrutiny.

In another case being probed by the CBI, Yavatmal Energy, a Nagpur-based company, also claimed to be linked with the Lokmat group. Committee sources said the delay could be explained in part due to the sheer volume of papers to be scrutinized but also said the agency’s complaint ought to be taken seriously, particularly as some of the entities being investigated were politically connected.
COURTESY:
Rajeev Deshpande & Neeraj Chauhan TNN
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