No King of black diamonds

Seventy per cent of India’s commercial energy comes from coal. Of that, a whopping 90 per cent is produced by Coal India

Given all the heat — but precious little light — of the debates over Ayodhya, it might surprise a visitor to India to know that hot air is not our primary source of energy. As temperatures rise in Parliament and fall across North India, can we move away from the quest for power, and take a look at the sources of India’s energy?

Fully 70 per cent of India’s commercial energy comes from one of the oldest sources known to humanity — coal. Of that, a whopping 90 per cent is produced by a single public sector undertaking — Coal India.

Incredibly, today there is nobody at the helm of this organisation but an acting chief. (He is, it goes without saying, an IAS officer.) And that has been the situation ever since the last chairman, P. K. Sengupta, retired on 30 September. There has really been no really convincing reason why a successor has not taken over; under ideal circumstances, of course, the name should have been announced well before the retirement of the incumbent.

To give credit where it is due, the search for Sengupta’s successor began months before his retirement. I am not sure whether it was realised at the time, but the Public Enterprises Selection Board began its efforts on the anniversary of D-Day - the 6th of June. One can only hope that the process will take less time than the Allied forces did to march from Normandy to Berlin in World War II...

The Public Enterprises Selection Board moved almost as quickly as Eisenhower’s men moved up the invasion beaches. Having interviewed ten candidates, they submitted two names - Balaswamy Akala being the first on the panel and a certain Sharma as the second choice. So far so good. Then, in the first week of July, the files were sent for what was supposed to be a routine vigilance clearance.

Lest one quibble over the word ’routine’ I should point out that there is no specific enquiry that I know of against Akala. In fact, the Central Bureau of Investigation has never had to bother to file a case against Akala in the 34 years that he has been a public servant. On 28 September, just two days before Sengupta’s retirement, the Central Vigilance Commission gave the green signal - after receiving it from the CBI.

It is at this point that the tale takes a sudden twist. On 30 September, the Additional Secretary in the ministry was ordered to take additional charge of Coal India for a period of three months. (I would love to know why this precise period was specified; the usual formula is ’until further orders’ or words to that effect.) But let us move on...

On 18 October, the Ministry of Coal formally recommended the appointment of Balaswamy Akala as chairman of Coal India. The file went to the Ministry of Personnel the next day, and nine days later, 28 October, it was put up to the minister concerned. And now it got even more curious.

On 15 November, the CBI registered a case against nine people. The fourth name on that list was that of Balaswamy Akala. With commendable - if that is the word I want! - speed, the foremost investigative agency in this country then proceeded to raid Akala’s residence. It was not the only one to be so honoured; five other houses were searched, including that of his father-in-law back in Tamil Nadu.

Interestingly, the case that was the proximate cause of all these raids is nothing new, but one that dates back to 1990 according to the First Information Report. It is alleged tat the nine people on the list were jointly responsible for a loss of Rs. 90 lakh.

As it happens, the case relates to a deal which had been argued before the Calcutta High Court, and then before the Supreme Court too for good measure. (I understand that the Attorney-General of India had appeared for Coal India in the case). Under normal circumstances, a case disposed of by the Supreme Court should have ended then and there. But these circumstances are anything but normal; the Central Bureau of Investigation says it has found that material facts were suppressed from the Bench.

I am reluctant to go into the details of the case. But the backdrop of these events definitely deserves a second look.

To begin with, the second name on the panel - Akala of course being the first - belongs to a man who is related to a former chief of the Central Bureau of Investigation. There is absolutely no link that this influenced the agency in any way whatsoever; nevertheless, it is a simple fact that the organisation acted with some alacrity. But this could be nothing more than coincidence.

The second little niggle is about the man who is currently the acting chief of Coal India - C.D. Aarha, an IAS officer of the Andhra Pradesh cadre. (He hails, I understand, from Rajasthan). He has, I am told, prior experience of handling other public sector undertakings connected with coal. For instance, in 1999, Aarha was in charge at the Neyveli Lignite Corporation. By a curious coincidence, on that occasion too the chairman-elect of the corporation found that his appointment had been unaccountably delayed by bureaucratic red tape. (No, the CBI was not involved in the case!)

Obviously, there is nothing to suggest malice aforethought in either case. In any case, idle rumours need not concern us. So what are the real issues?

First of all, Coal India is far too important an organisation to go around without a full-time chairman. Given the weight it carries in Indian economic circles and the interests of its 560,000 employees, this public sector undertaking deserves better than stop-gap chiefs. Any investigations and enquiries should have ended several months earlier, definitely well before the retirement of Sengupta.

The second important issue is the question-mark over the role of the CBI. I am not sure what it says about the organisation if it gave Akala a clean chit in September and then proceeds to raid his house less than two months later. Again, the speed with which the agency acted is bound to raise an eyebrow. I have great respect for the current chief of the CBI. May one hope that he looks personally into the whole wretched matter, beginning perhaps with the First Information Report?

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