Team Anna today levelled corruption charges against the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and his 14 other Cabinet colleagues, including the Finance and Home Ministers.
“We have sent the documents to the Prime Minister. All the documents will be uploaded on our Web site. We are demanding an independent probe by a panel of retired judges into the allegations,” senior lawyer Mr Prashant Bhushan told reporters here. The documents include file notings by the respective Ministries, CAG notings as also court documents.
Releasing a report, Team Anna alleged that the Prime Minister, as Coal Minister during 2006-09, “abused his position to give huge pecuniary benefits to private parties, which is an offence under Section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.”
“We are not terming anyone guilty. All we are demanding is an independent probe by a special team, which should be set up before July 25, the date proposed for veteran social activist Mr Anna Hazare's fast against corruption,” said former top policewoman Ms Kiran Bedi.
The team has proposed the names of six retired judges for the probe. These are Justices Mr Sudershan Reddy, Mr Ganguly, Mr A.P. Shah, Mr Kuldip Singh, Mr J.S. Verma and Mr M.N. Venkatachaliah.
Other accusations
Team Anna also accused the Home Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, of irregularities in the 2G spectrum allocation when he was Finance Minister. “A memo was sent by the Finance Ministry that the spectrum cannot be allocated at the 2001 prices. Mr Chidambaram was in London. Yet, he told the officer concerned to withdraw that memo and send a fresh one,” said Mr Bhushan.
He said “there is no way Mr Chidambaram can be absolved of his role in the 2G scam as there is more than adequate prima facie evidence.”
Against the Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, the charges relate to the alleged four per cent commission that was received on the Scorpene submarine deal when he was Defence Minister.
The other Ministers named by Team Anna are: the Agriculture Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar; the External Affairs Minister, Mr S.M Krishna; the Urban Development Minister, Mr Kamal Nath; the Heavy Industries Minister, Mr Praful Patel; the Science and Technology Minister, Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh; IT and Communications Minister, Mr Kapil Sibal; the Law Minister, Mr Salman Khurshid; the Shipping Minister, Mr G.K. Vasan; the Renewable Energy Minister, Mr Farooq Abdullah; the Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister, Mr M.K. Alagiri; the Power Minister, Mr S.K. Shinde; and Micro and Small Enterprises Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh.