Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been summoned by the Delhi court as an accused in the coal scam. Singh along with industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla and ex-coal secretary PC Parakh are summoned as accused by a special court in the matter related to allocation of Talabira – II coal block in Odisha in 2005.
However, the entire coal allocation process till date starting from the early nineties has been a sham when one looks at the Rs 2 lakh crore that the government has managed to raise by auctioning only 32 mines. The figure surpasses the Rs 1.86 lakh crore that CAG had estimated as a revenue loss to the country on account of allocation of over 200 mines to various players without following the auction process. When all the mines are auctioned, expected revenue to the government over the next 30 years is estimated to cross Rs 15 lakh cr.
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When any government gives away the right to collect Rs 15 lakh crore and allocates natural resources, the nation’s wealth for negligible returns, there are bound to be allegations of foul play. Under such circumstances, the person leading the government and the ministry will have to take the blame above anyone else involved in the faulty process.
It is thus no surprise that the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who also happened to be the holding the Coal Ministry portfolio has been summoned by the special court.
But in any questionable transaction, the question arises if there was quid pro quo? As this Business Standard article points out, Singh had allocated the mines to Hindalco whereby the final decision differed from the earlier recommendation of the screening committee. In his defense, Singh has argued that the departure in procedure was done following a representation to the PMO from the Chief Minister of Odisha (Naveen Patnaik) and his own conviction that the Birlas had a strong case for being allocated the mine.
While this argument cannot be completely faulted on the grounds that the PM of the country can overturn a screening committee decision, experts argue that the spirit of the law was violated even if criminal intent cannot be fully established. There is absolutely no logic of giving away mines for free at a huge economic cost to the country, unless there is possibility of a quid pro quo. Though there is no visible trail, the high interest shown by the former PM in the case of the Birlas does raise several troubling questions.
The other big question is whether the allocation of mine to Hindalco was done at the cost of public sector company Nevyeli Lignite. Due to the allocation to Hindalco, the company was able to meet 81.5 per cent of its coal requirement while Nevyeli lignite could meet only 29 per cent of its need. Reports suggest that diverting coal to Hindalco did impact Nevyeli but the latter was compensated by linking up with coal from Talabira – III. Manmohan Singh acted on behalf of his team and recommendation of the state chief minister, but since he gave the final nod, he is accountable. There is no way the former PM can now wash his hands off the case.
There is however, one allegation that sticks on Manmohan Singh. Despite his stated position in 2004 favoring the auction route for coal mines allocation, he failed to follow up on the same and raise more money for the government. Singh may have later changed his stance, probably due to coalition politics, since his junior ministers were alliance partners. But when he could put his foot down for the Indo-US nuclear deal and FDI in multi brand retail, he surely could have insisted on using the transparent auction route for coal auctions.
Irrespective of what the courts say, his inaction does reinforce the view that Manmohan Singh was never in full control of his government which resulted in some of the worst scams the country has witnessed in independent India.
