Am open to questioning by CBI on coal blocks: PM

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Thursday said he was open to questioning by the CBI on the coal allocation issue and has “nothing to hide”.

Answering questions on way back from his visit to Russia and China, the prime minister said: “I am not above the law of the land. If there is anything that the CBI or, for that matter, anybody wants to ask, I have nothing to hide.”

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been demanding that the prime minister be called for questioning by the Central Bureau of Investigation, which is probing the coal blocks allocation issue. The prime minister held the coal portfolio in 2006 during UPA-I.

To another question whether he thought the Supreme Court with its many judgments was becoming “over active” and whether he thinks it to be a reason for the government’s policy paralysis, the prime minister declined to comment.

“I would not like to go into it. The Supreme Court is the final court of our country. I would not like to comment on what the court does or what the court does not,” he said.

To a question on Telangana and the disturbances over the division of Andhra Pradesh, the prime minister said a Group of Ministers was looking into the issue.

“The matter is before the Group of Ministers. They are going into all aspects of the problem. I am sure they will come out with a viable solution to this very difficult and complicated problem.”

-Ranjana Narayan (IANS)