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PMO rejects allegations against Manmohan, Team Anna cries foul
Saturday June 09, 2012 10:39:12 PM,
IANS
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New Delhi: Rejecting
Team Anna's allegations against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on
coal blocks allocation, the Prime Minister's Office Saturday also
turned down its demand for a special team to probe charges against
cabinet ministers, drawing protests from the activists who accused
it of acting as "if there was no corruption".
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also criticised the government's
decision, questioning the reason behind the refusal of a probe if
the prime minister was "clean".
In a latter to Anna Hazare, Minister of State in the Prime
Minister's Office V. Narayanasamy said that allegations against
the prime minister were only based on a leaked draft report of the
Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and reports in the media.
"You have not produced proof in support of the allegations and
have said yourself that you were not making the allegations,"
Narayanasamy said in a four-page letter sent Friday but released
to media Saturday.
Narayanasamy said the final CAG report on coal allocation had not
been presented to parliament yet and the government will respond
to it after it is tabled.
"It is also known that CVC (Central Vigilance Commission) has
directed CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) that it should make
a preliminary inquiry into coal block allocation on the basis of
letter written by an opposition MP and some other people. CBI will
conduct its probe independently. Your allegations and
apprehensions about CBI are inappropriate and wrong," Narayanasamy
said.
Manmohan Singh was in charge of the coal portfolio from November
2006 to May 2009.
Team Anna member Manish Sisodia Saturday slammed the government's
response.
"The content of that letter is trying to prove that there is no
corruption in the country and all the ministers and officers are
working honestly, and we are unnecessarily creating a ruckus on
the issue of corruption," he told reporters here.
Sisodia said that on one hand the CBI was investigating the case,
and on the other hand the government has already declared that
there was no irregularity in the allocations and all the rules
were followed.
Fellow activist and Team Anna member Kiran Bedi tweeted: "PMO's
Prise (sic) to Annajee on allegations made on PM+14 Ministers is
absolutely wishywashy! On Camera admission by Fr (former) Coal
Sect (Secretary) supports CAG! (Comptroller and Auditor General)".
BJP joined in the criticism.
"If the prime minister is clean, what is the problem in ordering a
probe? We thought Narayanasamy will announce a probe, but they are
only giving clarification and covering up corruption," BJP
spokesperson Syed Shahnawaz Hussain told reporters here.
Narayanasamy also rejected Team Anna's demand for an independent
probe against the cabinet ministers, saying there were "enough
legal and constitutional structures available".
He also said the style of Team Anna's letter and "long and loose"
allegations in it were not acceptable.
"I have regret to say that your statement that country's highest
institutions such as the Supreme Court, high court, CAG etc. had
made allegations (against the ministers) from time to time is not
only unclear but is not worth being accepted," he said.
Narayanasamy also rejected Team Anna's allegation that CBI inquiry
against Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav had been
"suppressed", terming it "inappropriate to the government" and
"insulting to judiciary".
The letter was in response to Team Anna's May 26 letter that
charged Manmohan Singh and 14 cabinet ministers of "massive
corruption" and sought an independent investigation team
comprising three retired judges to probe the charges.
Besides Manmohan Singh, Home Minister P. Chidambaram, Finance
Minister Pranab Mukherjee and External Affairs Minister S.M.
Krishna also figured in the 79-page document prepared by Team
Anna.
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