Manmohan moves SC, for Coal Scam summons
Singh had to move the SC as the apex court, which monitored the CBI probe into the coal scam, had restrained the high courts from entertaining any petition against the orders of the special CBI court.
The trial court had on March 11 issued summons to Singh, industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla, his company Hindalco and its officials Subhendu Amitabh and D Bhattacharya, and former coal secretary P C Parakh asking them to appear before it as accused and face trial for charges under Prevention of Corruption Act and Indian Penal Code.
The summons were based on the allegation that allocation of Talbira-II coal block in Odisha was changed from Neyveli Lignite Corporation to a joint venture of Mahandai coal fields, NLC and Birla’s Hindalco causing loss to the exchequer. Singh held the coal ministry portfolio at that time. The trial judge had summoned the six terming the decision to change allocation from NLC to a JV of Hindalco against public interest.
In his petition, Singh has termed as “ridiculous” the logic behind the issuance of summons. It said an administrative decision could be “good or bad” but it was unheard of to introduce criminality into the decision by terming it post-facto as against public interest.
Moreover, it is not for the court to decide whether an administrative decision was good or bad and whether or not it was against public interest, he said. “The duty of the court is only to see whether any crime has been committed and if so whether there was evidence to nail the guilty.”
Hindalco chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla and Parakh have also filed petitions challenging the trial court order. They may make a mention of their appeals in a day or two.
Singh, Birla and other summoned accused could derive solace from the fact that the Supreme Court had given relief to industrialists Sunil Mittal and Ravi Ruia when they were similarly summoned by the trial court in the alleged irregular allotment of 2G spectrum during NDA regime in 2003.
A day after the trial court issued summons, senior advocate Kapil Sibal had faulted special judge Bharat Parashar’s decision and said, “The conspiracy and criminal breach of trust charge perceived by the judge from the investigation report and accompanying evidence has no limbs to stand.”
The trial judge said Singh as coal minister allowed reopening of the allocation “even though he himself had permitted the approval of the minutes of 25th screening committee recommending allocation of the same block to Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, a public sector undertaking”.
“Repeated reminders from PMO, written as well as telephonic, to ministry of coal to expeditiously process the matter in view of the letters received from Kumar Mangalam Birla also prime facie indicate the extra undue interest shown by the PMO in the matter,” the judge said.
Singh’s action, the judge said, defeated NLC’s efforts to set up a 2,000 mw power plant in Odisha. “His action thus prima facie resulted in loss to NLC which was a PSU and facilitated windfall profits to a private company, Hindalco,” he said.
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Source:Timesofindia
