Coalgate Expose: Govt tweaked CBI Status Report?

The UPA government will face another jolt in the coal block allotment scandal as the controversial probe status report filed by CBI last month was allegedly vetted by Union Law Minister Ashwani Kumar and Prime Minister’s Office officials.

The CBI is likely to inform the Supreme Court about the changes in the report, which was submitted on March 8. The Indian Express exposed that senior CBI officials including director Ranjit Sinha had met the Law minister before the status report was filed in the apex court.

According to the English daily, the meeting was also attended by some officials of Law Ministry, who suggested several amendments in the report.

The report was similarly vetted by senior PMO officials at a meeting, which was not attended by Sinha. However, it was not clear whether more changes were made in the report at the meeting.

Earlier, the report pointed out the irregularities in the coal blocks allotment made in 2006-09 during UPA 1. It alleged that the allotment was done without verifying the credentials if the companies.

The government had denied the findings of CBI in the court on March 12. The Attorney General GE Vahanvati said that the report by CBI could not be the final.