NEW DELHI: After being traceless for months, the missing Coalgate files have suddenly started resurfacing in the last two days under constant opposition hammering. On Friday, coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal claimed in the Rajya Sabha that only seven files, 173 applications and nine other documents pertaining to coal block allocations were yet to be traced.

He said out of 43 files that were reported missing, 21 have already been handed over to the CBI and 15 are being sent to the investigating agency.

The coal ministry has so far given 769 files and documents in original — running into 150,000 pages — to the CBI, Jaiswal said amid shouting of slogans by Telegu Desam Party (TDP) MPs protesting against the creation of a separate Telangana state.

Jaiswal argued that "it would be wrong to classify any file or document as missing at this stage when an inter-ministerial committee is actively engaged in locating these papers". Besides, he said, only a handful of files are yet to be located and "if we are unable to locate some papers, government will ensure that due investigations are carried out and guilty brought to book".

The minister’s artificial or forced classification of the missing documents does not hold water against logic and is aimed at merely bringing down the number of "traceless files".

For example, the missing applications may not be seen as a file but hold the key to establishing criminality or motive if they show that there were more deserving applicants. Similarly, the missing report of financial experts of Coal India Ltd (CIL) would not be a file but would be key to proving that companies without the financial wherewithal were allotted mines — proving that extraneous factors had influenced the allotment.

But Jaiswal said as investigation progresses, "if additional documents are called for by the CBI and, if any document is not readily available, it shall make every effort to trace and supply them to the agency."

He also said that out of 19 applications sought by CBI, three applications have already been made available and "the remaining 16 applications along with 157 applications ... are being searched."

About the missing documents, the minister said six have been handed over to the agency, two are available for handing over, while nine others are being searched. The clarifications sought in nine cases would be made available to the agency shortly, he added.

