Samajwadi Party suspects RIL hand in new oil secy selection

New Delhi, August 24: Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh has asked the Government to cancel the appointment of R S Pandey as petroleum secretary, saying there was a “suspicious” role of Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani in the crucial appointment. In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Samajwadi Party general secretary has said that Pandey’s appointment “should be cancelled forthwith”. The Prime Minister has sent a reply acknowledging the party’s letter.

Incidentally, Pandey’s appointment came just before former petroleum secretary M S Srinivasan retirement on July 31. The SP leader had then alleged that Srinivasan was showing favouritism to RIL and had demanded a CBI probe. Noting that Pandey’s appointment reflects “the unholy influence of one of the biggest industrial houses in the appointments of key government officials,” Singh, in his letter dated July 29, expressed concern on the “unexpected haste and suspicious co-incidental meetings” between the RIL chairman and Pandey before his appointment as petroleum secretary. Singh quoted media reports that said that Ambani met Pandey, just a day before his appointment, in a meeting facilitated by Minister of State for Steel Jatin Prasada.

Besides this, 24-hours after his appointment, petroleum minister Murli Deora himself hosted a tripartite meeting in his house between Pandey and Ambani, Singh said. Singh has also expressed his concern that these meetings send “wrong signals overall reflecting a suspicious nexus leading maybe to even favouritism to select players”.

With ENS inputs

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