Coal scam: Former Coal Secy P C Parakh says PM must be counted as a conspirator

Former Coal Secretary P C Parakh on Wednesday asserted that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was the final decision maker and must be counted as a "conspirator" in the coal block allocation scam.

Parakh's remarks came after he was on Tuesday booked by CBI on charges of criminal conspiracy and corruption in connection with alleged irregularities in the allocation of two coal blocks eight years back.

Dubbing the allegation against him as baseless, Parakh said he saw nothing wrong in the government decision.

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with the decision. It was a very fair and correct decision that we took. I don't know why CBI thought that there is a conspiracy," Parakh said.

BJP came out all guns blazing following Parakh's remarks, saying "Accountability of the Prime Minister and the PMO is equally important. Therefore, we demand a fair investigation."

Parakh's statement "merits serious consideration," BJP deputy leader in Rajya Sabha Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

Describing Parakh as an upright IAS officer, BJP leader Yashwant Sinha said, "The time has come for Parekh to speak up."

He has spoken a little, he should come out clean now, make public statements of how files were disposed off at that time (when the PM was in charge of the Coal Ministry).

"...how chits were received from Congress party headquarters in the PMO and PMO transmitted those instructions to the coal ministry for allotment of coal blocks," he said.

With PTI inputs