The Left parties and the BJP on Monday slammed the Central government over the missing files and records on allocation of coal blocks, especially of the period when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was in-charge of the Coal Ministry, and termed it an attempt to sabotage investigation into Coalgate.
CPI MP Gurudas Dasgupta, in a letter to Dr. Singh, referring to the August 17 report in The Hindu on the missing files issue, said: “Immediate steps should be taken to initiate an effective, proper and neutral inquiry and investigation to find out who is responsible for this act of sabotaging the investigation, to identify the guilty who had been responsible for squandering huge sums of money, causing serious loss to the country.”
CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat said missing of files was a serious matter as investigation was on into Coalgate. “I hope the government will come clean on it.” According to reports, 60 files had gone missing and various agencies were involved in the allocation of blocks, including the PMO.
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The BJP, on its part, said there appeared to be a conspiracy and collusion in the case of missing files. It alleged that this was an attempt to protect the Prime Minister who held the Coal portfolio. “There has been no response from the government on the Coal Ministry files which have gone missing. We are legitimately entitled to think that there is a conspiracy and collusion in this case,” Deputy Leader of the BJP in the Rajya Sabha Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters here.