CBI says, we are following Supreme Court guidelines

New Delhi: CBI Director Ranjit Sinha on Thursday justified the filing of fresh FIR against corporate in the allocation of coal blocks, saying the agency was only following Supreme Court guidelines.
“We have evidence on record that it was Parakh who overturned the screening committee decision and the coal block was allotted to the Birla. This is the initial stage of investigation, and a chance will be given to all accused to defend themselves. This is a Supreme Court monitored investigation and we are going by the rule book,” Sinha said.

Sinha’s comments came after some ministers, India Inc and others came out against the CBI, saying the action in the alleged irregularities in the coal block allocation was only creating an atmosphere of fear.
The government had nothing to hide and decisions on coal block allocations were taken on the basis of recommendations of state governments, Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office V Narayanasamy said on Thursday.

Narayanasamy told reporters that it has been the stand of the government that allocations have been made to public sector undertakings and some private companies “on the recommendations of state governments where coal blocks were available”.