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No major breakthrough in Coal scam probe, CBI faces the heat

The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday continued grilling former coal secretary PC Parakh in the coal blocks allocation scam. But even as the agency is trying to build a watertight case, strong evidence is still missing. With four closure reports already filed, the future of one of the most politically charged investigations still looks dim.

Two years after the agency launched investigations into one of the most politically sensitive cases, coal blocks allocation scam, the probe is fast losing steam. The CBI had filed 18 FIRs in just 2 years, but has found it difficult to sustain the allegations. Sources have said that there is very little prosecutable evidence against companies and bureaucrats. Even after examining 200 firms, not one arrest has been made till date.

Out of 18 cases, 4 cases have been closed due to lack of evidence. Two cases had implicated Congress MP Vijay Darda owned companies. Out of two chargesheets that have been filed, one of them was against another Darda owned company. Five preliminary enquiries have been filed out of which two were set up to probe missing coal files. However, later the CBI found no evidence of criminality.

While there has been no breakthrough in the scam, the case had created panic within India Inc. The CBI had lodged an FIR against top Industrialist KM Birla and former coal secretary PC Parakh in October, 2013. Then the industry leaders accused the CBI of misunderstanding the case. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram, too, openly criticised the CBI. "Investigating agency must tread very carefully. It must respect the line between policy making and policing. If there is no violation of prescribed rule, there is no offence," Chidambaram had said.

The coal scam has seen the CBI specifically its Director Ranjit Sinha locking horns with the government. His decisions conveyed an attempt to show him as impartial and taking on those in power. But the question which arises is did the CBI bite more than it could chew. The coal scam has done the opposite for the CBI, it has turned the heat on the agency itself.

Source-On Request