Coalgate: I have done no wrong, says Law Minister

Under Opposition attack over the CBI affidavit on the coal scam issue, Law Minister Ashwani Kumar on Friday said he had done "no wrong" and got support from the government which ruled out his resignation.

Kumar, whose sacking is being demanded by the Opposition parties, also met the Prime Minister to give his version on the issue. He also met Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath separately.

"There is no question of his resignation. He is not going to resign," Nath told reporters here after the meeting when asked whether Kumar had offered to resign. With regard to the CBI affidavit, he said, "It is for the court to decide." Suggesting that there was no wrongdoing by Kumar, he said CBI has stated that only the draft report was shown to the minister and not the final report. To a question why the officials of PMO and the Coal Ministry were also present during the CBI meeting with the Law Minister, he said the contents of the report were to be provided by the Coal Ministry and the Prime Minister had held the coal portfolio for some time. "The legal aspect is looked into by the Law Minister," he said. He spoke to media after Gandhi and the Prime Minister held consultations with UPA leaders in the wake of CBI affidavit filed in the Supreme Court earlier in the day. In the affidavit, CBI Director Ranjit Sinha said the agency`s status report on coal allocation scam was "shared" with Law Minister Ashwani Kumar "as desired by him" and that senior officials of PMO and Coal ministry had also seen it. Nath said the UPA meeting also discussed the logjam in Parliament for the last four days and the ways to end it. "We discussed how Parliament can function from next week through better coordination. The UPA chairperson held discussions with the allies. The discussion centred on non- functioning of Parliament and unacceptable demands by some political parties. We discussed what can be done so that Parliament can function from next week," he said. Sources close to Kumar said there was nothing wrong in a government department consulting the Law Minister on a legal issue. They also said there have been such instances in the past when CBI has consulted the Law Minister on important issues. They also indicated that a meeting with CBI did not mean the CBI report was altered. On BJP`s demand for resignation of the Prime Minister, Nath said, "They put forth this demand every three months." PTI