Delhi govt’s FIR against Mukesh Ambani alleges that Mani Shankar Aiyar & Jaipal Reddy dropped to help RIL
NEW DELHI: The first information report filed recently against Mukesh Ambani and others by the Delhi anti-corruption bureau alleges that Mani Shankar Aiyar and Jaipal Reddy were shunted out of the oil ministry to help Reliance Industries, posing a challenge for investigators as it is the prime minister who reshuffles the Cabinet.
The FIR, filed at the behest of former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, alleges that gas prices are being raised from April 1 as part of a conspiracy to enrich the Ambaniled Reliance.
Those pursuing the case are also unclear about filing criminal charges for a decision that is not taken by an individual, but collectively by the Cabinet. The FIR even says that the decision to double gas prices is the “single biggest act of corruption done by the UPA government”.
The complaint says Aiyar had to go because he opposed RIL’s move to increase the cost of developing the controversial KG-D6 block, while Reddy paid the price for sending a stern show-cause notice to Reliance and penalised it for the drop in gas output despite higher expenditure in field development. While the FIR says that the two ministers were shown the door because of Reliance, the government clearly disagrees.
“No exogenous factor has any role to play in the appointment of ministers. Ministerial reshuffle and appointments are the sole prerogative of the PM,” a PMO official said.
The FIR against Ambani, oil minister Veerappa Moily and his predecssor Murli Deora was ordered by Kejriwal on the basis of a complaint filed by former Cabinet Secretary TSR Subramanian, former Power Secretary EAS Sarma, former Naval Chief RH Tahiliani and lawyer Kamini Jaiswal. They allege that ministers of the UPA government colluded with Reliance to raise natural gas prices, leading to a windfall for the company at the cost of the common man.
Official sources said investigating the complaint would be tricky, particularly because the decision to raise gas prices involved the empowered group of ministers and the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) that includes senior Cabinet ministers and is chaired by the prime minister.
“Every aspect will be investigated, but in the case of decisions taken by an EGoM and Cabinet, there are doubts if it can be called a conspiracy or collusion. In such decisions a draft note is circulated in advance as a safeguard to make the process authoritative and transparent,” a senior official in the Delhi administration told ET.
However, the investigation will need to be conducted. “There cannot be a cover-up job in this case. The FIR was registered on the order of the chief minister, who is a constitutional authority. The case will have to be properly handled,” the official said.
Investigating Cabinet changes will involve examining decisions by the prime minister, officials said. The prime minister’s position had earlier come under the spotlight during the probe into the allocation of coal blocks as he held the coal portfolio but finally only private firms that got the coal blocks faced investigation. The FIR also names VK Sibal, who as director general of hydrocarbons, had approved much higher capital expenditure by Reliance.
Sources in the Delhi administration say this may be easier to investigate as this decision did not involve the cabinet, CCEA or any EGoM. It is alleged that the decision was taken in haste to help Reliance.
The complaint also questions the decision to appoint a panel on gas prices led by C Rangarajan, chairman of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council. It alleges that the panel was “mala fidely appointed to increase gas prices”.
Read full article: Economic Times
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