Why Supreme Court order on coal block allocation is an indictment of Manmohan Singh and Sriprakash Jaiswal

Even as the opposition party Congress officially took satisfaction over the Supreme Court order cancelling all coal blocks allocated since 1993, calling it confirmation that the UPA government was perusing  the policies of previous governments, the order is a scathing indictment of the former prime minister Manmohan Singh and former coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal. Notwithstanding, the Congress satisfaction that the apex court has painted all coal ministers since 1993 in black, most of the coal blocks were allocated when Singh and Jaiswal supervised the coal ministry.

While the earlier allocations were few and far between, some 155 of the 218 blocks allocated came when Singh was prime minister and supervised the coal ministry between 2004-09. Jaiswal during his term allocated coal blocks to 35 private companies without mandatory sanction by the screening committee. He even sanctioned coal blocks to three private companies — SKS Ispat &Power, CG Sponge Manufacturers Consortium Coalfield and API Ispat & Powertech — and a JV of Coal India in late 2011 without any auction, despite the new rules for auction of coal blocks coming into effect in 2010. Jaiswal took charge of the coal portfolio in 2009.

Officially, Congress on Wednesday challenged the government to charge all coal ministers who had been at the helm since 1993 and stop indicting only the UPA ministers. Former ministers and party spokesperson Anand Sharma though said the party will give a detailed reply after reading the judgement carefully, he asked the NDA leaders to look within and introspect. Out of 218 blocks, only 70 were allocated till 2005, the rest were allocated by the UPA-I and UPA-II.

First to indict Singh directly in the coal scam was former coal secretary P C Parakh, who held him directly responsible for the scam and  subsequent policy paralysis.  Parakh said coal ministers Shibu Soren and Dasari Narayana Rao had reversed the prime minister’s decision on auction of coal blocks. “I do not know why the prime minister did not speak then. But if the PM had persisted, Coalgate would not have happened,” said Parakh.

Even Singh’s media advisor Sanjay Baru has also mentioned that though the Prime Minister was "Mr. Clean", he lacked control over his government. Parekh was coal secretary when Singh headed the ministry. Singh also did not admonish his ministers Sibu Soren and Desari Narayan Raom who had gone all out , to obstruct, sabotage and stall open bidding. Parakh was himself named in an FIR registered by the CBI in the scam, for allocation of a block to the Aditya Birla Group’s Hindalco.

Even if Singh is not tried by law, the judgment has stained his reputation. The law has already reached to his doorstep with the CBI quizzing MK Nair, his former principal secretary as well as MK Narayanan, who was the National Security Advisor (NSA).

Recently, the CBI quizzed Narayanan — who was till recently the Governor of West Bengal — in AgustaWestland scam. This was the first time that the investigating agency went to any Raj Bhawan to question a Governor.

Nair is on the radar in Coalgate scam and it is said that the investigating agency quizzed him twice in the last one month. When Manmohan Singh was looking after the ministry of coal, Nair was his Principal Secretary. At that time, many coal blocks were allotted, which are now being investigated. Governors ESL Narasimhan and BV Wanchoo were also interrogated, following which the former put in his papers.