Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of the Aditya Birla Group.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has questioned Kumar Mangalam Birla, the chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, in connection with coal block allocation to Hindalco, sources told NDTV.
TKA Nair, the principal secretary of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his private secretary BVR Subramanyam have also been questioned.
Mr Birla was questioned last month, sources in the agency said. Earlier, only the officials of his company had been questioned by the agency.
The Birla Group has not responded to questions from NDTV.
Officially, the agency, also refused to confirm the questioning of Mr Birla. "It is a court monitored investigation and whatever the CBI has to say, it will submit to the court in the next hearing," a spokesperson of the CBI said.
Dr Singh was also reportedly questioned on the directions of the Special Court. The agency has not confirmed the matter and Dr Singh's office has denied that he had been summoned for questioning.
The case pertains to allocation of Talabira II block to Hindalco when the former Prime Minister was also holding the portfolio of Coal.
Dr Singh was asked whether he was personally involved in the decision to allocate the block to Hindalco and whether he had personally seen the file, reported news agency Press Trust of India. He was also asked about the reasons behind changing the decision.
Mr Nair, who was earlier examined by the agency through a questionnaire, was questioned in the wake of special court's December 16 order, in which the judge had noted that it would be "appropriate" if the CBI re-examines him.