Hansraj G. Ahir, the union minister who uncovered the massive coal scam carried out by the Indian government in 2012, has been accused of using his political status for an illegal activity. According to the petition filed against the country's Minister of State for Chemical and Fetilizer, Ahir pressured Dharmendra Pradhana to stop a local public sector enterprise or PSE from taking legal action against an LPG cylinder distributorship applicant.
The legal issue facing Ahir stemmed after he reportedly offered to assist GeetaKapgate, a resident of Bhandara District in Maharastra, to obtain the necessary approvals to operate as a distributor of LPG cylinders. Although Kapgate's application was initially rejected by the PSE Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd., she was eventually able to secure the distributorship rights through a court intervention, the Deccan Herald reported.
Based on the petition filed at the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, Ahir wrote a letter to Minister of State for Petroleum Pradhana on Dec. 31, 2014, asking the latter to investigate Kapgate's case and see what he can do to help her. Due to Pradhana's involvement, he too, was targeted in the petition for succumbing to pressure and extending an illegal service to Kapgate.
Both Ahir and Pradhana declined to release statements regarding the matter. The two also did not provide details regarding how they intend to tackle the court issue.
Ahir gained the attention of the public almost four years ago after exposing the alleged coal scam conducted by ministers from the United Progressive Alliance, which was the ruling party in India at that time. According to the allegations, the government did not go through the proper bidding process for the allocation of coal blocks.
NDTV reported that investigations regarding the matter are still ongoing. However, last month, the Supreme Court of India expressed its disappointment at the country's Central Bureau of Investigation or CBI for its slow actions in solving the case.
According to The Economic Times, the next hearing for the case has been scheduled on April 18, 2016. The CBI is expected to present the closure report for its investigations on this day along with statements from Ahir if he has any.
