Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was “aware of everything” in the process of allocating a coal block to Naveen Jindal group firm, former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda told a special court on Wednesday.
Koda, who sought summoning of Manmohan Singh as an accused, said if there was any conspiracy to allocate the Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block in Jharkhand to Jindal group firm, it could not have been without the knowledge of the then prime minister who was also the coal minister at that time.
“The coal minister (Singh) was aware of everything and if at all there was a conspiracy, as CBI says, it cannot be complete without the knowledge of the coal minister,” Koda’s counsel told Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar.
The lawyer also argued that Singh cannot take the defence that he was kept in the dark in this case as he was aware of the entire process, which led to the allocation of the coal block to Jindal group firm.
He said that according to CBI, then minister of state for coal Dasari Narayan Rao, who is also an accused in the case, wanted the coal block to be allocated to Jindal group but “actually the man behind this was the Prime Minister who approved it”.
Koda’s counsel concluded his arguments on the plea after which senior public prosecutor VK Sharma said he would respond to it tomorrow.
Koda, in his plea, has sought to summon Singh as an accused along with Anand Swaroop, the then Secretary (Energy), and Jai Shankar Tiwari, the then Secretary(Mines and Geology), contending that CBI’s theory of conspiracy remains incomplete without the involvement of the then prime minister who was also holding the portfolio of Coal Ministry.
He said Singh being the final authority to allocate coal blocks, cannot escape from the consequences of his decision.
The case pertains to alleged irregularities in allocation of Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block to two Jindal group companies, Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) and Gagan Sponge Iron Pvt Ltd (GSIPL).
Koda, Congress leader and industrialist Naveen Jindal and 13 others were chargesheeted by the CBI in the case earlier.
In his plea, Koda said, “the materials placed by CBI shows that the said conspiracy, if any, cannot be complete without the involvement of the Coal Minister (Singh) who had the final say in the entire allotment.”
“The materials on record show that the Coal Minister was aware of the facts of the case and had taken the decision consciously with full application of mind to allot coal block to JSPL and GSIPL…which according to the CBI is the result of conspiracy and is illegal. Hence, he (Singh) is also required to be summoned,” the plea said.
It further said that the court is required to consider that the case of all the other accused “stand on a better footing as compared to Dr. Manmohan Singh” who has taken the “ultimate and final decision” to allot the coal block to the two Jindal companies.
