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The Opposition’s demand of mass cancellation of coal block licences is a conspiracy, the Congress party said here on Tuesday.
Briefing reporters here on behalf of his party, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal said taking such a step without waiting for the Inter-Ministerial Group’s decision would lead to legal hazards.
He said the BJP’s only concern was to score political points and they knew it well that mass cancellation would be challenged in courts. “It’s a conspiracy,” he said, and reiterated that the Government’s policy, which was on since 1993, was correct.
Jaiswal justified CBI raids across the country against erring companies that got licences. He said the BJP should now stop saying that the CBI was acting only on the Government’s orders.
When asked to respond to the raid on a company that allegedly has links with Congress MP Vijay Darda, the Minister said he was not the spokesperson of the CBI. He said there would be more raids and CBI would take action against the guilty.
Licences of all those companies that have erred will be cancelled, he said, and added, “they will be behind bars. I can guarantee you.”
Jaiswal said the Government, as per the Prime Minister’s direction, had asked the Inter Ministerial Group to function in a time-bound manner. Their report is expected within two weeks.
Speedy probe
Meanwhile, the BJP asked the CBI to expedite the probe into allocations and book the culprits at the earliest.
Party spokesman Prakash Javadekar said the CBI probe was ordered by the Central Vigilance Commission on a request by him and his colleague in the Lok Sabha, Hansraj Ahir. “The Government has nothing to do with the CBI probe,” he added.
Both the Houses were disrupted on Tuesday, too, over the coal scam.
However, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (Amendment) Bill, 2012, was passed in the Rajya Sabha amid din. The Lok Sabha passed the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore, Bill 2012, which was earlier passed in Rajya Sabha.
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