PM examined my recommendation and made a decision: Prakash Chandra Parakh

Interview with Former Coal Secretary

Former Coal Secretary Prakash Chandra Parakh wants Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to be included in the investigation if the decision to include Hindalco in coal block allocation, taken during his tenure, has been construed as a conspiracy. In this case Singh was the final decision maker, as he was holding the coal ministry portfolio. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) would not have filed the First Information Report in the first place if it had been able to make a distinction between a “bona fide right decision” and “an unauthorised wrong decision”, he tells B Dasarath Reddy. Edited excerpts:

How do you defend your action as Coal Secretary after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed an FIR in coal block allocation to Hindalco during your tenure?

 

Hindalco was as much eligible and competent as the public sector Neyveli Lignite Corporation. What was decided at that time was to include Hindalco and make it into a joint venture with Neyveli which was fair to both the companies. To my mind there is absolutely nothing wrong in this case. If the CBI feels that there is something wrong and we hatched a conspiracy in doing so, then the investigation should be made against everybody who has been a party to this conspiracy which should include, apart from Birla and me, the Prime Minister also. Birla made a representation. I made this recommendation. The Prime Minister examined it and made a decision.

 

Some media reports quoting the CBI sources suggested that the decision to include Hindalco came only after your meeting with Birla. Were there any procedural lapses if not a conspiracy because the Screening Committee was all for Neyveli Lignite even though the former was the first applicant for the said coal block?

 

Not necessarily, because the Screening Committee makes recommendations for allocation of coal block but its recommendations are not always mandatory for reasons to be recorded in writing.  The government can deviate from the Screening Committee recommendations, whether it is the secretary or the Minister. If the government feels that the decision needs to be reviewed it can always be reviewed. Screening Committee is not a decision making body. Decision is always with the minister.

 

Do you think that the CBI has made a wrong judgement in this particular case?

 

My feeling is that the CBI perhaps not been able to make a proper distinction between a bonafide right decision and an unauthorised wrong decision.  There was no basis for CBI to come to a conclusion that there was a conspiracy behind allocation of coal block to Hindalco if they had carefully gone through the documents in this case,  because, they have not said that Hindalco is not eligible for coal block allocation nor they said that it is a bogus party or it has no industry or it was incapable of opening a mine. 

 

Simply because earlier it was agreed to give it to Neyveli and subsequently Hindalco was included does not make a decision wrong. As both parties were eligible both were included. In my tenure I had included more than two, three, four companies in one block, whoever was found eligible, and asked them to make joint ventures. There is nothing special about this case.

 

Was that a perfect procedure to be adopted for coal block allocations as you yourself has favoured the auction route?

 

I was always of the opinion that auction would be a fair method of allocating coal block. It puts every body on equal footing and brings about total transparency along with some additional revenue generation.  This did not go through because the then Minster of State Dasari Narayana Rao opposed to it. Minister Sibu Soren was also opposed to it. The file was kept going up and down for quite some time and no decision was taken till I left the Ministry. Then the proposal was further diluted by saying that a similar decision had to be taken in respect of all other minerals apart from coal. That was how the decision was delayed by 4-5 years. There was no political will to bring the bidding system around. So much money and time would not have been wasted in  the investigation if they had introduced the bidding system at that time.

 

Had the CBI found anything incriminating related to the case during the searches in your residence yesterday?  What do you think will happen in this case?

 

They took some documents though not related to this particular case. I kept those documents with me for writing a memoir on my tenure in the Coal Ministry. They found nothing related to this case. They asked me about the inclusion of Hindalco's name in the allocation of the coal block and I explained every thing to them.  As they will find no material to prove that it was a conspiracy they may not be able to file the charge sheet in this case.

 

Former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha today said that it was time for you to reveal every thing you knew about how coal block allocations were made in government? 

 

All of that has been brought out by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report in great detail. It has given a very voluminous report right from the beginning of my joining the Ministry till 2009-2010. It is all there in the report and there is nothing further to add.