Coalgate: Jagathrakshakan denies charges
Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting S Jagathrakshakan said he had not used his office for the allocation of a coal block to J.R. Power Gen Pvt Ltd, a company owned by his family. He said the relevant agreement was entered into long before he assumed office.
In a statement, the DMK leader said that he had resigned from the post of director and stakeholder of J.R. Power Gen Pvt Ltd, which entered into an agreement with the Puducherry Industrial Promotion Development and Investment Corporation (PIPDIC) for coal block allocation, even before he filed his nomination for the Lok Sabha election in 2009.
Meanwhile, amid reports suggesting Jagathrakshakan's involvement in the coal controversy, the government on Friday rejected the demand to initiate investigation against the DMK leader. Negating the possibility of expanding the coal probe and bring Jagathrakshakan under the purview of CBI investigation into the issue, Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid said: "Somebody must come with allegation that require investigation...somebody must say that this is what has caused under undue influence."