CPM favours debate on coal scam issue in House

New Delhi: With the deadlock persisting in Parliament, CPI(M) on Friday demanded that the Prime Minister should make a statement on the coal scam issue in the House.

"There are various issues being raised on coal scam including the role of CBI and Law Minister in it. So, the Prime Minister should come forward and explain it in the House," said CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury outside Parliament. "There should be a debate on the issue in both Houses," he said. His colleague Basudev Acharya, however, demanded that Law Minister Ashwani Kumar be removed from the cabinet. "When the inquiry is going on under the supervision of the SC, then it was expected that the report will be submitted to the court first. The Law Minister should be removed from his post for misusing the office and we want PM should give answer to it," Acharya said. With CBI admitting that it had shared its status report on coal block allocation scam with Ashwani Kumar, BJP has demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh alleging that he was using the Law Ministry to save himself from the probe in the case. PTI