File photo of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
Reuters
New Delhi:
A day after Prime Minister's Office defended his decision to allocate two coal blocks to industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla's company, Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid has said the PM won't go through every page before signing it.
"There is no conspiracy. We took a decision. We put up a file and accepted it. A file is presented to us. Then the PMO looks at it, analyses it and gives it to the PM. Do you expect the PM to read each page before signing it? I have been a minister. If things work like this, nothing will be accomplished," Mr Khurshid said.
Earlier, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said that PMO and former Coal Secretary PC Parakh were on the same page over coal block allocation.
"I think what we have got is there is no difference between the PMO and Parakh's assessment of the facts of the case and its merits. Unless there is additional info that was not available to the PMO or which now comes out as a result of investigation, what the PMO is saying is there was absolutely nothing wrong. And, by the way, I strongly support that," Mr Ahluwalia told NDTV. (Watch)
The Prime Minister's Office had yesterday described his decision to the coal blocks in Odisha to Hindalco as "appropriate and based on the merits of the case" placed before Dr Manmohan Singh.
In a press release, Dr Singh's Office stressed that the Odisha government headed by Naveen Patnaik heavily urged the Centre to grant the coal blocks to Mr Birla, which played a large role in the Prime Minister's decision who was also the Coal Minister at the time. (Read full statement)
The coal licenses that were granted to Mr Birla's firm are being investigated by the CBI as part of its inquiry into how and why the government gave mining rights at under-priced rates to private firms, costing the country lakhs of crores according to the national auditor.
The CBI has said that Dr Singh's office has not been cleared yet in its inquiry into what it alleges was a criminal conspiracy between former Coal Secretary PC Parakh and Mr Birla, both of whom have denied any wrongdoing.
"There is no conspiracy. We took a decision. We put up a file and accepted it. A file is presented to us. Then the PMO looks at it, analyses it and gives it to the PM. Do you expect the PM to read each page before signing it? I have been a minister. If things work like this, nothing will be accomplished," Mr Khurshid said.
Earlier, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said that PMO and former Coal Secretary PC Parakh were on the same page over coal block allocation.
"I think what we have got is there is no difference between the PMO and Parakh's assessment of the facts of the case and its merits. Unless there is additional info that was not available to the PMO or which now comes out as a result of investigation, what the PMO is saying is there was absolutely nothing wrong. And, by the way, I strongly support that," Mr Ahluwalia told NDTV. (Watch)
The Prime Minister's Office had yesterday described his decision to the coal blocks in Odisha to Hindalco as "appropriate and based on the merits of the case" placed before Dr Manmohan Singh.
In a press release, Dr Singh's Office stressed that the Odisha government headed by Naveen Patnaik heavily urged the Centre to grant the coal blocks to Mr Birla, which played a large role in the Prime Minister's decision who was also the Coal Minister at the time. (Read full statement)
The coal licenses that were granted to Mr Birla's firm are being investigated by the CBI as part of its inquiry into how and why the government gave mining rights at under-priced rates to private firms, costing the country lakhs of crores according to the national auditor.
The CBI has said that Dr Singh's office has not been cleared yet in its inquiry into what it alleges was a criminal conspiracy between former Coal Secretary PC Parakh and Mr Birla, both of whom have denied any wrongdoing.
