Coal-gate case: Plea against PM in Supreme Court

An advocate on Thursday moved the Supreme Court seeking directions to the Central Bureau of Investigation to name Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in its FIR filed against industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla and former Coal Secretary P C Parakh in a coal block allocation case.

Advocate M L Sharma, who was one of the petitioners on whose PIL the apex court is monitoring the probe in the coal gate, filed an application in the wake of statement by Parakh that the Prime Minister knew of the coal blocks being allocated to companies like Hindalco and he too should be named as a "conspirator" and made an "accused.

The application said "Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was in  direct charge of the coal ministry as coal minister in 2005 and had decided to allot the coal block to various allottees including Hindalco".

Photograph: Reuters