The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is set to begin field investigations into the alleged coal block allocation scam, as part of its preliminary inquiry to ascertain whether there were irregularities in allocating these blocks to private companies between 2006 and 2009.
The controversy over the allocation, alleged to have led to undue gains of thousands of crores of rupees, is set to gather pace, with the principal opposition party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), today asserting some companies had already sold the blocks allotted to them.
Under the field investigations, a CBI team would visit 65 coal blocks and collect mine-level data. “This might be followed by quizzing of companies that had been allocated the blocks,” a senior CBI official told Business Standard. The official, however, did not divulge the names of companies to which the 65 blocks had been allocated.
The matter had recently been referred to the investigative agency by Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), following a complaint by the BJP. The CBI had registered the preliminary inquiry on June 1. Last month, anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare’s team had held Prime Minister Manmohan Singh responsible for the alleged scam. Singh had said he would quit public life if the allegations were proven.
Based on the CVC reference, CBI has been asked to look into three allegations---why the allocations were continued during 2006-2009 despite the pending legislative amendment needed for auctioning, whether these blocks were allocated in a fair and transparent manner and whether the coal blocks allotted to companies had been misused.
“Our focus is more on the last two allegations, as the first is regarding a policy matter, which is not CBI’s mandate,” the official said. He, however, added a formal case would be registered in case definite evidence of any violation of law was found in the preliminary enquiry in the other two allegations.
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The BJP, meanwhile, has upped the ante against the government over the issue of corruption, which it said, might have taken place during the allocation. “We have information that some of the 143 private companies that were allotted 83 coal blocks, with over 17 billion tonnes of reserves, have sold the blocks,” BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar told Business Standard.
The party argues the government should not have allocated the blocks through the screening committee route, as a decision to adopt the auction method, considered more transparent, was taken in 2006. “The government hastened the entire process of allocation. While earlier only three to four blocks were allocated annually, the government allocated as many as 20 blocks every year between 2006 and 2009,” Javadekar said.
The coal ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office had, through separate statements, clarified the allocation process had to be continued in the larger interest of economic development, as demand for coal in the critical infrastructure sectors of power and steel had shot through the roof.