Coal allocations case: Examine AB Vajpayee, LK Advani & Mamata Banerjee too, says Manish Tewari

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Monday deftly linked some former prime ministers and senior politicians to the possibility of CBI examining PM Manmohan Singh in the coal blocks allocations case.

I&B Minister Manish Tewari said if it was a question of whether CBI should question Singh since he had at some stage looked after the coal department, by the same logic all those former PMs and ministers who had held the charge of the coal ministry from 1993 to 2009 too be summoned by the agency as allocations being probed spanned over the very period.

Three former PMs – the late PV Narasimha Rao, the late IK Gujral and AB Vajpayee – senior opposition leaders including LK Advani and Mamata Banerjee have held the charge of coal ministry during the period.

Tewari added, “the PM has extensively spoken inside and outside Parliament with regard to the government's transparency on coal block allocation. The PM has an impeccable track record. There has never ever been a question on the integrity of the PM. It is most unfortunate an attempt has been made to politicise things in the ongoing investigations.”

The issue of CBI investigation into the coal blocks allocation took a turn after some files went missing. Opposition parties have accused the government of trying to sabotage the investigation.