HYDERABAD: He feels vindicated. Almost a year after he was dragged into the coalgate, former coal secretary PC Parakh’s consistent argument that there was no merit in the case has come true. On Monday, a CBI spokesperson declared that the agency will file a closure report this week against both Parakh and industrialist KM Birla as the allegations levelled against them in the allocation of Talabira-II block could not be substantiated.
“From the time the CBI came up with this theory, I was quite surprised how the country’s premier investigating agency could not distinguish between what is right and wrong,” Parakh, held in high esteem by his peers, told this newspaper.
The two charges made by the CBI have fallen flat. One, it had argued that a “surreptitious” meeting took place between Parakh, when he was the Coal Secretary, and Birla. The meeting did happen but in Parakh’s office, by no means surreptitious. Second, that there was a conspiracy. According to Parakh, there was no scope for a conspiracy either because he had recorded the minutes of the meeting with Birla and noted on the file that his arguments should be considered on the basis of “merit.”
Does he feel it was a vindictive act? “I really do not know. Some of my friends suggested it could be.” None of the parties ever believed he did anything wrong, he pointed out. He termed the court’s order on coal allocations ‘expected’ but felt cancellation is not the answer.