Ex-Coal Secretary accuses CBI of 'witch hunt' against him

“If it was reserved for the public sector only, how could Hindalco apply for it,” he said.  Terming CBI as an organization which did not have any expertise to handle such cases, Parakh said “if the allocation of Talabira-II to Hindalco was undue favor, why were all the 200 coal blocks allocated to private companies not considered undue favor?”

The author said that CBI is not equipped to find the truth. “Its expertise lies in fixing and unfixing people...CBI is almost totally staffed with police officers who have little or no exposure to policy formulation and implementation.”

The former coal secretary said that when he was asked to join investigation during the Preliminary Enquiry stage, he had expected the CBI Director or an officer one or two ranks below him to interact with him.

“Certainly not inspectors of police who do not understand difference between a coal block and a coal mine.”

The basic argument of the CBI was that why the decision of the screening committee changed and whether there was any pressure from the PMO.

“I categorically stated there was no pressure from the PMO, and the case was considered entirely on merit. I said I take the full responsibility for what I recommended. I thought the CBI has understood the logic of this decision,” Parakh said.

“I was surprised at the CBI's naiveté when they registered an FIR in this case and a team of dozen officers landed at my door to search my flat eight years after I had retired,” he said, adding, the approach of the CBI was totally faulty.  

“I can say without hesitation that the CBI is either outright incompetent or is playing a deeper game which I do not understand,” Parakh claimed and expressed wonder of the CBI to question Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for writing a recommendation letter favoring Hindalco.