Desperation is making Team Anna attack PM: Govt

The government on Sunday denounced Team Anna’s demand for an independent probe into the allegations of corruption against the Prime Minister and 14 other ministers, terming it an “act of desperation” by a group seeking to become relevant again.

The government on Sunday denounced Team Anna’s demand for an independent probe into the allegations of corruption against the Prime Minister and 14 other ministers, terming it an “act of desperation” by a group seeking to become relevant again.

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V Narayanasamy, minister of state in the Prime Minister's Office, said levelling allegations against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh — who is known for his integrity throughout the world — was highly irresponsible. "Baseless allegations have been levelled on senior leaders of the country by these people. It is an act of desperation by a group trying to become relevant again at any cost," Narayanasamy told HT.

Coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal defended the allotment of coal blocks between 2006 and 2009, when the Prime Minister was in charge of the ministry. “Everything was done according to the rules, keeping the national interest in mind,” he said.

In its chargesheet released to the media on Saturday, Anna Hazare’s team had alleged that allocation of coal blocks during the period when the coal ministry was under the Prime Minister, was done in an “arbitrary manner that benefited certain private companies”.

Team Anna cited the draft report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in support of its allegations. “There was a rush for the allocation of coal blocks under the old, non-competitive system… The CAG, in its draft report, pegged the losses at crores of rupees,” Hazare’s team stated in its letter to the Prime Minister.

Lawyer Prashant Bhushan said the final report of the CAG was understood to have shown similar findings. “Though the final report has been submitted to the government, it chose not to table it during the recently concluded budget session of Parliament,” he said.

Narayanasamy rejected Bhushan’s claim on the CAG findings. “What they appear to be basing their entire argument is a draft CAG report, not even the final one. Once a final report is tabled, it will be examined by the Public Accounts Committee of the Parliament. Only then can something be said,” he said.

Narayanasamy said external affairs minister SM Krishna has already made it clear that he will file a defamation case against Bhushan and his colleague, Arvind Kejriwal.