CBI examines Arun Shourie and Vedanta's Anil Agarwal in Hindustan Zinc Ltd divestment case

NEW DELHI: CBI has examined former disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie and Vedanta group Chairman Anil Agarwal in connection with alleged irregularities in the divestment of Hindustan Zinc Ltd (HZL)during NDA regieme.

CBI sources said the agency recorded the statement of Shourie and Agarwal last week.

Shourie told PTI that two CBI officers from its Jodhpur office had come and they asked him the reasons for implementing the policy under which HZL was disinvested.

The former minister of disinvestment said it was strange as CBI was probing the same allegations which were brought before Supreme Court and rejected by it.

He said another strange point was the fact that the officers of level of SP and DSP were questioning the policy of the government.

Shourie said he responded to all their queries and sent a written summary of his replies to CBI Director Ranjit Sinha.

Last year, CBI had registered a preliminary enquiry against Agarwal and unknown officials in connection with alleged irregularities in the disinvestment of HZL during the period of NDA government.

The agency believes that the loss caused to the exchequer due to the alleged irregularities runs into hundreds of crores of rupees.

It is alleged in the enquiry that Sterlite Industries, part of Vedanta Resources, had picked up majority stake in the public sector undertaking at an undervalued price resulting in estimated losses running into hundreds of crore to the exchequer, CBI sources said.

Vedanta spokesperson could not be reached for comments.