By IANS,
New Delhi : Additional Solicitor General Haren Raval should have “talked it out” with Attorney General G.E. Vahanvati instead of writing a letter alleging he has been made a scapegoat in the coal blocks allocations issue, said External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid Tuesday.
“If I would be advising the deputy (Rawal), I would have said if you have differences of opinion, perception or you believe you haven’t got support you deserved, then you are two professionals working together. Talk it out,” Khurshid told NDTV news channel.
“I am not quite sure it was the best thing to do, not only to write a letter but also put it out in the media. I think they are two top professionals and it really doesn’t behove top professionals to be settling what could be egos or could be genuine differences of opinion,” said Khurshid, a former law minister.
“Great minds can disagree,” he said.
Asked about the Attorney General’s role in the coal blocks allocations issue, Khurshid said: “I reserve my judgement about what the attorney general of the country can do. The AG is the law officer of the court and not of the government.”
“I believe that there can be autonomy and accountability and the courts can insist that certain arms of the government can be at some distance,” he said.
The minister said there should not be interference in the autonomous performance of duties that are expected to be done by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or any other agency with or without court supervision.
Raval’s letter came as controversy raged over whether the government tried to influence CBI probe into the coal scam.
In his letter to Vahanvati, Raval has reportedly said he has been made a “scapegoat” in the matter, and accused him of trying to interfere in CBI’s probe report.