Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, giving into the demands of the Opposition, spoke on the missing coal files before leaving for the G20 summit which is scheduled in Russia on Wednesday. He vowed in the Parliament house to locate the missing files required for the probe in the multi-crore coal allocation scam.
"If the government is unable to locate the papers, a report will be filed with the CBI for proper probe," Singh said in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had raised the issue in the Lok Sabha in the morning following which they demanded that Singh must make a statement on the missing files before he leaves for the G20 summit.
"The Prime Minister will not be available as he is going for the summit. This is the last day we can get a response from the PM, we should set aside all other work for a discussion on the coal scam," Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj said in the Lok Sabha.
"It is a monumental scam and occurred when the Prime Minister was the Coal Minister...PM should give a statement on this," , BJP leader Prakash Javadekar Javadekar had said during Zero Hour in Rajya Sabha, two days back. He had also demanded to know whether any FIR was lodged regarding the issue.
To which Singh replied in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday saying, "All papers related to coal block allocation that are not traceable will be located and given to CBI within time stipulated by the Supreme Court."
He reiterated that the Opposition needs to be calm and not draw 'hasty conclusions' about the missing files.
Meanwhile, BJP MP in Rajya Sabha Ravi Shankar Prasad expressed dissatisfaction and criticised the PM of protecting the guilty. "Sorry to say that PM has been economical with truth today. Government is trying to hide facts and protect those who are guilty," he said.
