Former Coal Secretary PC Parakh yet to choose his legal recourse

NEW DELHI: Former coal secretary PC Parakh, summoned as a co-accused by a CBI court along with former prime minister Manmohan Singh and Aditya Birla group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla over the allocation of coal blocks to Hindalco, would firm up his legal strategy after the Supreme Court decides on an appeal expected to be filed by Singh.

A source close to the retired bureaucrat told ET that he has yet to decide on whether he would defend himself in the court or appoint a lawyer and is waiting to see if the apex court quashes the CBI court's summons to them on charges of breach of trust and criminal conspiracy under the Prevention of Corruption Act of 1988.

Ever since the CBI launched a probe into the allocation of coal blocks, Pa rakh has persistently held that there was nothing malafide in the allotment of Odisha's Talabira II coal block to Hindalco in a joint venture with public sector firm Neyveli Lignite.

"The CBI had investigated the case for nearly two years and found nothing incriminating,” said the source, adding that Parakh's attempt to push for competitive bidding for coal blocks in 2004 stands vindicated in the face of the ongoing coal auctions that have already raised over Rs 2 lakh crore.

In his 2014 book "Crusader or Conspirator: Coalgate and Other Truths”, Parakh had held that the Comptroller Auditor General's assessment of a Rs 1.86 crore loss due to opaque coal block allotments was 'rather conservative.' In the chapter 'In defence of CAG: Why the Prime Minister is Wrong', Parakh had questioned the UPA government's attack on the CAG over its report on coal block allotments and also punched holes in Manmohan Singh's statement to Parliament about the Coalgate scam.

Parakh however credits Singh for the fact that 'at no time did the PMO make recommendations or exert pressure in favour of any party.' "Even in the case of Hindalco, where the CBI has decided to register an FIR, the request was only to re-examine the case on merit,” he wrote in his book.

He also highlighted India Inc's opposition to the concept of competitive bidding when it was discussed in June 2004. "I think the industry resisted because they didn't want to pay for something that was hitherto available for free. To an extent, it was a reflection of corporate India's aversion to transparency.”