Coal scam: Manmohan Singh insisted on sending files to his MoS, says Madhu Koda

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi. (Source: AP)

To buttress his argument that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh be summoned as an accused in the coal block case, former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda told the special court on Wednesday that it was on Singh’s “insistence” all files related to the allocation of Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block were “routed” to Minister of State for Coal Dasari Narayan Rao.

“The man who wanted to route all the files to MoS Coal was the then coal minister Manmohan Singh… Why did Singh want this file to be routed through Rao. Even the PMO said that the files should be routed through the MoS… Singh was in knowledge about the movement of the file, and at this stage benefit of doubt cannot be given to him,” Koda’s counsel Anshuman Sinha told Special Judge Bharat Parashar.

The CBI has alleged that the company promoted by Rao had received Rs 2 crore from Naveen Jindal for undue favour shown by him.

Koda’s counsel argued that it was not a “mere coincidence” that when Naveen Jindal allegedly complained about Bhushan Energy Limited, the company that was earlier recommended by the Ministry of Power, former PM sent the file back to his junior coal minister.

“There was no reason to send back the file to the MoS Coal when Jindal filed a complaint. Why was this done?” Koda’s counsel argued.

“Singh could have sent it back to the screening committee. But instead, it was sent to the MoS Coal, which recommended the coal block to Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) and Gagan Sponge Iron Pvt Ltd (GSIPL),” the counsel added.