Coalscam: Manmohan Singh knew everything on Jindal firm says Madhu Koda

New Delhi Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was aware of everything in the process of allocating a coal block to Naveen Jindal group firm exJharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda told a special court on WednesdayKoda who sought summoning of Manmohan Singh as an accused said if there was any conspiracy to allocate the Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block in Jharkhand to Jindal group firm it could not have been without the knowledge of the then Prime Minister who was also the coal minister at that timeThe coal minister Singh was aware of everything and if at all there was a conspiracy as CBI says it cannot be complete without the knowledge of the coal minister Kodas counsel told Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar The lawyer also argued that Singh cannot take the defence that he was kept in the dark in this case as he was aware of the entire process which led to the allocation of the coal block to Jindal group firmHe said that according to CBI then minister of state for coal Dasari Narayan Rao who is also an accused in the case wanted the coal block to be allocated to Jindal group but actually the man behind this was the Prime Minister who approved itKodas counsel concluded his arguments on the plea after which senior public prosecutor V K Sharma said he would respond to it tomorrow Koda in his plea has sought to summon Singh as an accused along with Anand Swaroop the then Secretary Energy and Jai Shankar Tiwari the then SecretaryMines and Geology contending that CBIs theory of conspiracy remains incomplete without the involvement of the then Prime Minister who was also holding the portfolio of Coal MinistryHe said Singh being the final authority to allocate coal blocks cannot escape from the consequences of his decision The case pertains to alleged irregularities in allocation of Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block to two Jindal group companies Jindal Steel and Power Ltd JSPL and Gagan Sponge Iron Pvt Ltd GSIPLKoda Congress leader and industrialist Naveen Jindal and 13 others were chargesheeted by the CBI in the case earlierIn his plea Koda said the materials placed by CBI shows that the said conspiracy if any cannot be complete without the involvement of the Coal Minister Singh who had the final say in the entire allotmentThe materials on record show that the Coal Minister was aware of the facts of the case and had taken the decision consciously with full application of mind to allot coal block to JSPL and GSIPLwhich according to the CBI is the result of conspiracy and is illegal Hence he Singh is also required to be summoned the plea saidIt further said that the court is required to consider that the case of all the other accused stand on a better footing as compared to Dr Manmohan Singh who has taken the ultimate and final decision to allot the coal block to the two Jindal companiesNoting that the charge sheet said that the allocation has been made wrongly and was not in public interest the application said hence the ultimate final authority who made the allotment cannot be allowed to go scotfree without even facing the trialReferring to the facts of the case and a Delhi High Court verdict Koda said in his plea it is clear that Dr Manmohan Singh as Coal Minister has allotted the coal block without public interest and there is sufficient evidence on record warranting this court to summon him for facing trial if CBIs contention was accepted that the allotment was illegal The plea further said It is not possible to obtain the final allotment in favour of Ms GSIPL against public interest without the involvement of the final allotting authority namely the Coal MinisterIt also said it would be discriminatory and illegal to charge one set of accused for having taken decision against public interest by recommending GSIPLs name and on the other hand other set of officials under whose signature the final allotment has taken place are being allowed to go scotfreeKoda alleged that the whole and sole responsibility of coal block allocation rests with the Coal Minister as he was the final authority to take decision Regarding Swaroop and Tiwari Koda said they were part of the threemember subgroup formed by Jharkhand Government to evaluate the pleas of firms and suggest suitable application for recommendation by the state