CAG not competent to decide loss: Congress on coal-gate

Keeping up its attack on the Comptroller and Auditor General, the Congress on Thursday said the auditor was "not competent enough" to decide on the loss to the government in the coal block allocation issue "just on the basis of presumptions".

The party also said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was "clean" and no one could raise an accusing finger at him in the wake of the CAG report" and there has been "no error or wrongdoing".

Ruling out any responsibility on the part of the prime minister, party spokesman Rashid Alvi said moves for deallocation of four coal blocks have been initiated for procedural and agreement violations.

"The CAG should confine itself to its jurisdiction. It is not competent enough to decide on the loss of revenue to the government just on the basis of presumption. The job of the CAG is to audit central and state government accounts," he told reporters.

He insisted that if the private players who have got the coal blocks violate terms and conditions, neither the ministry nor the minister could be held responsible as there has been no wrongdoing on the part of the government.

Alvi said that wherever there have been violations, the CBI is looking into it and "there will be no leniency".

His comments came on a day when the Inter-Ministerial Group on coal blocks allocation has recommended de-allocation of four mines alloted to private firms and encashment of bank guarantee of three others on the ground of non-development of mines within a prescribed time.