Political Diary

New Delhi, 19 October 2013

PM Accussed No 1

COAL GRIME SMEARS AGAIN

By Poonam I Kaushish

Corruption is authority plus monopoly minus transparency. This axiom rang true as a fresh blast of coal grime smears the UPA. Thanks to CBI Director Ranjit Sinha's latest bombshell charge-sheeting one of India’s richest industrialists Kumarmangalam Birla, ex Coal Secretary PC Parakh and a faceless “competent authority” in the Rs 1.86 lakh crores Coalgate scam. Another testimony to a brazen ‘democracy by concessions and politics of direct sale’. Leaving the Government walking on hot coal suspended over a deep pit!

The saga begins with Birla’s firm Hindalco applying for two coal blocks Talabira II, in Odisha in 2005. His application is rejected by the coal screening Committee headed by then Coal Secretary Parakh as the blocks were earmarked for public sector Neyveli Lignite Corp. But two letters to Coal Minister Manmohan Singh and meeting Parakh later, the Coal Secretary overturned his ‘considered’ decision rejecting Hindalco’s proposal and allots the blocks to the private company.

Predictably all hell breaks lose. Worse, Parakh spills fresh blood by making plain he was not the ultimate authority. Asserted he, “"If there is a conspiracy, then there are three conspirators. KM Birla, me and the Prime Minister is No 1, who was the final decision maker.”

Either which way, the smash-up of Manmohan Singh’s pristine clean image has been damaged beyond repair. True, none doubt his personal honesty, but what good is that integrity when he heads a most corrupt Government riddled with scams and turns a blind eye to the innumerable corrupt deeds of Ministerial colleagues caught with their hand in the till.

Specially, against the backdrop that not only was he heading the Coal Ministry for some time when the scam happened but also because most of the 142 coal fields allocated between 2004 and 2009 were given at undervalued rates instead of using the auction route to favoured private parties who instead of extracting coal sat tight (only 28 of 86 captive coal blocks produced coal) thereby causing the national exchequer a loss of Rs 1.86 lakh crores!

But the main question remains unanswered: Why has the CBI shied from naming the Prime Minister? Who is the faceless “competent authority?” Deeping the mystery is the CBI continuing cageyness about whether it will specifically investigate the Prime Minister or his Principal Advisor T K A Nair for their role in the allocation of the coal blocks.

According to CBI insiders, the reason why this phrase was used was to help the agency stave off for the time being the sensitive issue by not mentioning the names of the Prime Minister or his close aides who handled the Coal Ministry between 2006- 2009. At the same time it underscores that the final decision of coal blocks allocation was not taken by the Coal Secretary or the screening committee. Said a senior officer, “We have just kicked the ball further down to avert the embarrassment to the ‘powers-that-be’ but the red flag can be raised anytime”.

But the fracas has a happy fallout. As Sonia’s Congress wrestles with the FIR against a top industrialist and a bureaucrat reputed for his honesty, the face-off underlines the changing dynamics between the Government and CBI ties. See how various senior Cabinet Ministers batted for Birla and  attacked the premier investigating agency for tarnishing India Inc’s brightest thereby scaring foreign investments.

For the Congress and UPA in general the timing couldn’t have been worse especially with Assembly elections round the corner and general polls in 2014. The Congress’s worries stem from the very mention of the role of the “competent authority” in the allocation as the Damocles sword continues to hang over the possibility Manmohan Singh being investigated.

Sonia knows only to well that having raised the ante on the “competent authority’s” role in Coalgate, the CBI would now be forced to discuss the role of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) officials, particularly Principal Secretary Nair who ran the show.

More so against the backdrop of the former Coal Secretary avowal that if he's charged, the PM should be made the accused No 1 spells impeding damage. The Party is keeping its fingers crossed that the questioning takes place post State polls.

Why blame Birla he was only following in the footsteps of the powerful and favoured. The ‘chosen’ list reads like a virtual who’s who of the rich and powerful. Ex- Union Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahay's brother was allocated two coal blocks, following his letter to the Prime Minister ‘recommending’ his family’s company. Similarly, IST Steel and Power, a spanking-new outfit owned by former RJD’s Union Corporate Affairs Minister Prem Chand Gupta's sons received a coal block in Maharashtra.

Two Congress MPs-industrialist Navin Jindal and Vijay Darda both grabbed coal blocks on the facetious plea that the industrialists had power, cement and steel businesses and hence needed captive mines. Sic! What to speak of a five-day-old company headed by former DMK’s Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting S Jagathrakshakan was awarded a coal block in 2007.

The agency is investigating how and why private firms landed mining rights at throwaway prices from the government which did not auction coal fields or maintain records of its decisions, according to investigators. Reportedly, the modus operandi was simple: Favoured private firms first negotiated a price with the High Command, paid up and then mines allotted to them.

Alas, the cacophony of shadow boxing between our netagan continues with each trying to demonstrate through free-for-all one-upmanship their deeper commitment to public interest. All busy projecting themselves as Surf ki safedi ke chamatkar, conveniently forgetting that the corruption fevicol is not the binder of a nation’s moral fabric!

What now? Clearly we need to put in place a clear and transparent regulatory framework and stop crony capitalism riding roughshod over bona fide businessman. As a starter we could take a leaf from US and Westminster. In America post the Enron scandal, the Senate’s Ethics Committee ensures Senators avoid situations where they benefit personally from their official acts such as an inside financial deal with an industry seeking a legislative favour.

Clearly, all eyes are on what happens next. It is time our leaders understand that there are moments when cynical calculations of political expediency become repugnant. Remember, in a democracy, public office is more about perception of integrity, honesty and trust. One has to appear clean besides being clean. Manmohan Singh doesn’t tire of averring that Caesars wife must be above suspicion. The buck stops with him. Prime Minister, truth is not determined by majority vote. ---- INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)