Reacting to the special CBI court summons to industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla as an accused in the coal scam case, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Wednesday said such orders can create "uncertainty and anxiety among investors" and dissuade them from investing in the country.
"Such judicial orders create uncertainty and anxiety in the minds of investors and dissuade businesses from investing in the country and take forward the 'Make in India' initiative," the industry chamber said in a statement here.
"It is our belief that Birla represents the progressive face of Indian industry, which does not indulge in crony capitalism and carries out his businesses by the book," it added.
Though the court "is absolutely within its rights to proceed on legal course", CII said: "Reputations of institutions and individuals take years to build and can be easily destroyed by actions if they are not well thought through."
"Companies such as Hindalco have already made significant investments in the project and are now facing an uncertain future. This raises the transactions cost of business and would dissuade companies from contemplating green-field investments in the country in the future," the chamber added.
"Creation of an atmosphere of uncertainty sends a wrong signal to investors," CII said expressing concern about the trial court order against Hindalco relating to the allocation of Talabira-II and III coal block in Odisha.
Former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Birla and ex-coal secretary P.C. Parakh were summoned as accused by a special CBI court which observed that the former prime minister was roped into the criminal conspiracy to accommodate Hindalco in the Talabira-II block allocation in 2005.
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Earlier on Wednesday, Hindalco denied that any of its officials had pursued any unlawful or inappropriate means to secure allocation of the Talabira block.
"Hindalco reiterates that none of its officials, including its chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla, have pursued any unlawful or inappropriate means for securing the allocation of the coal block," the company said in a statement.
Hindalco said it "cooperated with investigating authorities completely during the course of investigation" and was confident that it would "stand vindicated at the end of the ongoing legal process".
Aditya Aluminium Project, for which this allocation was made, has been implemented by the company at an investment of over Rs.13,000 crore.
"The plant is already operational even though Talabira-II & III coal block could not become operational for want of clearances. Consequently, Hindalco is having to suffer irrecoverable financial stress," the company said.