Coal scam: Additional Solicitor General Harin Raval resigns

New Delhi, April 30: After authoring a major scandal for the government, Harin Raval on Tuesday resigned as the Additional Solicitor General. Sources said Raval may soon be followed by Attorney General G E Vahanvati, who the former accused of lying to the

of India.

It is the CBI's probe into the coal scam that has put the careers of both Raval and Vahanvati under shadow. The central investigative agency admitted that its report submitted to the apex court in March was vetted by Law Minister Ashwani Kumar and two bureaucrats from the Prime Minister's Office and the coal ministry.

Raval sent a letter to Vahanvati on Monday night, which said: ""You had deemed it appropriate to take a stand that the contents of the status report were not known to you, which fact you knew to be incorrect. On account of your statement, I felt embarrassed and was forced to take a stand in the court consistent with your submission."

According to sources, Raval wrote the letter when it became clear that he would be made the fall guy by the government for its alleged attempt to disrupt the CBI's probe into why valuable coalfields were allocated without any background checks or bidding process to the private companies.

Kumar saw the draft of the CBI's report and sought changes at a meeting on March 5. Raval and Vahanvati were also present at the meeting.

But later Vahanvati told the apex court that he had not seen the report and was also unaware of its contents. Raval said the report had not been seen by anyone in the government for it was in a sealed cover.

The apex court on Tuesday asked the CBI to explain Raval's statement at the next hearing on May 6.