Ashwani Kumar should quit as Law Minister: CPI

NEW DELHI: The CPI on Saturday demanded the resignation of Law Minister Ashwani Kumar over the CBI affidavit in Supreme Court which said it had shared its status report on coal block allocation scam with him.


The party also sought a clarification from the Prime Minister, charging the government with trying to influence the working of the premier investigation agency.

In a statement, CPI General Secretary S Sudhakar Reddy said said Kumar should quit his post "as CBI Director Ranjit Sinha (has) exposed his intervention in the affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court on coal scam. ... The Law Minister has no moral right to continue."

Maintaining that the Prime Minister's Office, the Law Minister and Coal Secretary had "no business to interfere" in the CBI report, he said the Prime Minister "has to explain why his office also joined the Home Ministry to examine the affidavit of the CBI to the Supreme Court. It is necessary to explain what amends they made to the original affidavit."

Reddy said the entire episode "amounts to nothing but misusing their political power and trying to influence the CBI to misdirect the Supreme Court. It is clear that they do not respect the Supreme Court."