New Delhi: The estimated Rs 10.67 lakh crore
loss to the exchequer in allotment of coal blocks in an initial CAG report kicked up a storm both inside and outside Parliament today with BJP demanding a CBI probe.
Parliament was thrown into turmoil with the Opposition forcing adjournment of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha till noon after accusing the Government of a massive scam in coal allocation.
Congress steered clear of the issue arising out of the
allotment of coal block allocations between 2004 and 2009,
contending it was not proper to comment on the draft CAG
report which has not yet been finalised.
"The coal allotment scam is a major scam. We demand a CBI
probe and a court should monitor the probe," BJP leader
Prakash Javdekar told reporters.
"Why coal blocks were allotted without auction?" Javdekar
asked.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik described as
`shocking` the report.
"This is truely shocking as the issue has been raised
in Parliament. It is a mega-mega scam and a sad development,"
the BJD supremo told reporters outside the assembly in
Bhubaneswar while his partymen shouted anti-UPA slogans in the
House.
CPI(M) demanded that the CAG report on coal block
allocation be tabled in Parliament without delay and necessary
and that necessary acation be initiated to recoup the losses to the national exchequer.
As soon as the Lok Sabha met for the day, JD-U members
were on their feet demanding immediate discussion on a report
of the Comptroller and Auditor General(CAG) on allocation of
155 coal acreages between 2004 and 2009 to some 100 companies.
Just as Speaker Meira Kumar called for the Question
Hour, BJP and JD-U members trooped into the Well raising
slogans against the government.
"Yeh Sarkar Kaali Hai (This government has been
tarnished)" the opposition members chanted in the Well.
PTI
