Court wants more coal info

Pulling up the Centre for not cooperating with the CBI in the coal blocks allocation scam, the SC today directed it to submit all documents relating to the decisions taken by a screening committee that decided the controversial allocations. HT reports.

Coming down hard on the Centre, the Supreme Court on Wednesday asked it to give all the documents that the CBI needed to investigate the coal scam and also file a detailed affidavit "justifying" the allocations.

Reading out from the latest status report submitted by the CBI in the coal block allocation scam, the court expressed displeasure over the coal ministry not cooperating with the agency, which complained it was not getting relevant documents.

"If the documents are available, these should be made available to the CBI," the court said, adding, "It should also reflect in your counter-affidavit."

A three-judge bench headed by justice RM Lodha also asked attorney general GE Vahanvati to file a detailed affidavit justifying 164 allocations.

The direction came after Vahanvati told the court that in all there were 204 allocations, 72 of which were done through government agencies. The government had de-allocated 40 blocks, he said.

The bench, which is hearing two petitions challenging the allotments on the ground of arbitrariness, gave the Centre four weeks to file a detailed affidavit in support of the allocations.

Petitioner's counsel Prashant Bhushan proposed that till a law was drawn up, there should not be any need to obtain sanction from the government to prosecute a person in any court-monitored or court-directed probe. The Centre would respond to the proposal by July 17, the AG said.

The court also sought his response to another of Bhushan's plea that the CBI should take the permission of the Central Vigilance Commission, and not the government, to investigate bureaucrats facing corruption charges. The order should remain in place till Parliament cleared the amendments to make the CBI autonomous, Bhushan said.

Earlier in the day, additional solicitor general Siddharth Luthra, representing the CBI, recused himself. He is the second CBI counsel to withdraw from the case after senior counsel UU Lalit.