Proclaiming that there was nothing wrong with the coal blocks allocation, former Union Coal Secretary Prakash Chandra Parakh on Wednesday said if the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) thinks there is any discrepancy in the coal allocation then the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh should be held equally responsible for taking the final decision.
Parakh, who was named recently in the latest chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) along with industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla and his company, said the decision taken for allocation of coal blocks was absolutely not wrong.
"So, to my mind I don't know why the CBI has thought that there is a controversy. But of it is a conspiracy then there are different members to this conspiracy. Mr. Birla, who made a representation, is one conspirant; I who examined the case and made a recommendation, I can be another conspirant; and the Prime Minister as Coal Minister who took the decision is the third conspirant. So, if CBI thinks that there is a conspiracy then why did they chose and select Mr. Birla and me and why not PM?" asked Parakh
"If there is a conspiracy then we all three conspirants and he is the final decision maker," he added.
Parakh, a 1969-batch IAS officer from Andhra Pradesh cadre, who was appointed as the Union Coal Secretary in March 2004 and served that post till December 2005, said the CBI should give answer as why they have included him in the FIR.
Parakh further added the CAG had stated that he was the person who always advocated transparency in the system.
Parakh yesterday said that if the CBI feels any sense of conspiracy in the case then the Prime Minister should be an accused equally since he signed off on the decision.
The CBI yesterday filed FIRs against Kumar Mangalam Birla and Parakh alleging irregularities and criminal conspiracy in allocation of two coal blocks in Orissa in 2005.
The CBI, which has now filed 14 FIRs in this case, conducted coordinated searches at offices of the Aditya Birla group located at Mumbai, New Delhi, Hyderabad and Bhubaneswar yesterday.
The opposition party BJP accused the Prime Minister and held him responsible for the allocation and demanded his resignation for an estimated loss of Rs 1.86 lakh crores to the national exchequer by the CAG in connection with the coal block allocation.
However, the CAG report does not indict the Prime Minister or his office, but the BJP is emphasizing that the Prime Minister held direct charge of the coal ministry for the years under scrutiny.
-With inputs from ANI
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