 "PM enjoys no immunity from prosecution")
CBI may have stopped short of defining the “competent authority” in the latest coal FIR, but it is certainly not the law which is preventing it from doing so.
Amid speculation on whether Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was also the coal minister in 2005, should be made accountable for any irregularity, legal experts say the post of PM does not have any immunity from prosecution. Such a privilege is only enjoyed by the President and governors.
Following the 14th FIR filed in the coal block allocation scam, former coal secretary P C Parakh alleged that if he has been named as an accused, even the Prime Minister should be made a co-accused since he approved allocations. However, experts point out that an FIR is “barely an investigation”.
Earlier too, even to question P K Bansal after he resigned as the rail minister, CBI had as a matter of protocol written to the Prime Minister’s Office. While a sitting PM has never been prosecuted in the history of the country, if such a situation arises, he would step down from the post, explained an official.
“Lalu Prasad Yadav was chargesheeted, court summoned him and he had to resign. Nobody is exempted in the constitution except President and Governor. Chief Minister or Prime Minister are also the same in that sense,” said D R Karthikeyan, former CBI director.
Whether or not CBI names the PM, if in the process of the trial any evidence shows his name, the court has the authority under Section 319 of CrPC to summon the Prime Minister to the court.
For instance, in the ongoing 2G spectrum scam trial in the special CBI court, the prime accused A Raja has insisted that the Prime Minister be called as a witness to the court. Raja has cited reasons that the PM was kept in the loop for spectrum allocation decisions taken during his tenure. The 2G trial is yet to reach the stage where defence gets to call its witnesses.
The only time a former PM has been chargesheeted was when P V Narasimha Rao was named as an accused in the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha bribery scandal, only to be acquitted later.
Amid speculation on whether Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was also the coal minister in 2005, should be made accountable for any irregularity, legal experts say the post of PM does not have any immunity from prosecution. Such a privilege is only enjoyed by the President and governors.
Following the 14th FIR filed in the coal block allocation scam, former coal secretary P C Parakh alleged that if he has been named as an accused, even the Prime Minister should be made a co-accused since he approved allocations. However, experts point out that an FIR is “barely an investigation”.
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“If the CBI has direct evidence, it can even name the PM. As such there is no permission required, but sanction from a competent authority may be taken,” said R S Sodhi, former Delhi High Court Justice.
Earlier too, even to question P K Bansal after he resigned as the rail minister, CBI had as a matter of protocol written to the Prime Minister’s Office. While a sitting PM has never been prosecuted in the history of the country, if such a situation arises, he would step down from the post, explained an official.
“Lalu Prasad Yadav was chargesheeted, court summoned him and he had to resign. Nobody is exempted in the constitution except President and Governor. Chief Minister or Prime Minister are also the same in that sense,” said D R Karthikeyan, former CBI director.
Whether or not CBI names the PM, if in the process of the trial any evidence shows his name, the court has the authority under Section 319 of CrPC to summon the Prime Minister to the court.
For instance, in the ongoing 2G spectrum scam trial in the special CBI court, the prime accused A Raja has insisted that the Prime Minister be called as a witness to the court. Raja has cited reasons that the PM was kept in the loop for spectrum allocation decisions taken during his tenure. The 2G trial is yet to reach the stage where defence gets to call its witnesses.
The only time a former PM has been chargesheeted was when P V Narasimha Rao was named as an accused in the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha bribery scandal, only to be acquitted later.