The Congress on Wednesday demanded a thorough inquiry under a sitting Supreme Court judge into the coal scam in Gujarat in which Rs 6,000 crore was allegedly looted over the last 14 years, insinuating there was continued political patronage to the fraudsters.
The Hindi newspaper Dainik Bhaskar published a report alleging that coal meant for supply to small and medium industries of Gujarat was fraudulently sold to big industries outside the state in connivance with top officials.
A scheme formulated during the Manmohan Singh government in 2007 to facilitate availability of coal to MSMEs at a cheaper rate had been used by the Gujarat officials for swindling thousands of crores, it said.
