The CBI court’s decision to summon former prime minister Manmohan Singh as an accused in the Coalgate scam case is a watershed in India’s criminal justice system. It is yet another proof that Indian judiciary is independent and does not consider anyone above the law. Merely because he has been included in the list of accused does not mean that he is guilty. As Manmohan Singh himself said, the court’s decision has pained him but he will definitely prove his innocence in the court. It is the right approach, for the case gives him an opportunity to prove that he wasn’t involved in the Coalgate scam.
The opposition Congress is unnecessarily politicising the case. The party should remember that the whole case is being monitored by the Supreme Court and nothing moves without the concurrence of the court. The party cannot take the stand that there was no scam involved in the allocation of the coal blocks. It was the apex court which had cancelled the allocations made by the UPA government. At that time the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had calculated a loss of Rs 1.86 lakh crore the state had suffered. However, Manmohan Singh had pooh-poohed the CAG’s claim. The recent e-auctions of some coal blocks have already fetched the government over Rs 2 lakh crore. In fact, the CAG could only be accused of underestimating the loss.
As prime minister and minister in charge of coal for some time, Manmohan Singh cannot escape blame for the loss the national exchequer would have suffered. There are enough indications to suggest that lobbying was done by big companies to get the coal blocks allocated. It is a different issue whether the then prime minister had entered into a criminal conspiracy to defraud the exchequer. He may not have. The CBI court is the right forum for him to prove his innocence. Also, the people have a right to know what had happened that led to the loss of billions of rupees which would have gone into the pockets of some big businessmen. Let the truth triumph.