PM more than fair, open on coal scam issue: Cong

Rejecting the Bharatiya Janata Party’s attack on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the coal scam issue, Congress on Friday said that he had been "more than fair, open and transparent" on the matter.

Replying to questions on Dr Singh's statement on Thursday that he was ready to face CBI in the matter as he has nothing to hide, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Soorjewala said that the prime minister has "stated the obvious as nobody in the country is above the law".

He at the same time emphasised that Dr Singh has been steadfastly maintaining that the decision regarding the allocation of Talabira coal block made in 2005 was a correct one.

"It was a correct decision taken on facts and it is an appropriate decision... the PM had steadfastly maintained that whatever he did was entirely correct," Soorjewala said.

While returning from his two-nation tour of Russia and China, the Prime Minister had yesterday told reporters," I am not above the law of the land. If there is anything the CBI or, for that matter anybody, wants to ask me, I have nothing to hide."

Alleging that the country's property worth Rs 50 lakh crore was given to 140 companies for "free under the Prime Minister signature", BJP today said Dr Singh's readiness to be questioned by CBI in the coal scam is "meaningless" as the agency comes under PMO's purview.

"The investigations have reached the door of the Prime Minister. Now he is saying that he is ready to go to CBI... CBI is under the PMO. Its administrative control is with PMO. His joint secretary changed the status report of the CBI.

"So, saying that he is ready to go to CBI is meaningless. Perhaps he is thinking that he will get a clean chit from the agency in the same way Pawan Bansal, Mayawati and Mulayam Singh got," BJP spokesman Prakash Javedkar said.