His Past Continues to Shadow the Present

The CAG had said that the UPA government’s allocation of coal blocks may have cost the exchequer thousands of crores

While stepping down, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had hoped that history would be kinder to him than the contemporary media. But the ghosts of the scams under his watch, especially that of the coal allocation scandal, refuse to go away.

A special court has asked the CBI why the former Prime Minister, who also held the coal portfolio, wasn’t questioned in the case. “Don’t you think examination of the then coal minister was necessary in the matter?… Don’t you think his statement was necessary to present a clear picture?” Special CBI judge Bharat Parashar asked the agency. The CBI officer replied, “The then coal minister was not permitted to be examined,” though officials from the PMO were probed and it was found that the coal minister’s statement was not required.

The CAG had said that the UPA government’s allocation of coal blocks during the period 2004–09 may have cost the exchequer thousands of crores. Now, signs of Singh’s great hopes coming true are getting bleaker by the day.

CAGCoal allocationManmohan SinghUPA