Coalgate: Law minister Ashwani Kumar resigns

Despite support from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, law minister Ashwani Kumar was virtually left with no option but to resign, especially after Congress party supremo Sonia Gandhi met Manmohan Singh on Thursday over the coal scam report to discuss the adverse comments made by Supreme Court. Ashwani Kumar resigned after meeting PM in the evening.

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Even as late as last Saturday, the Prime Minister had came out firmly in defence of the law minister saying there was "no question" of the minister resigning in the wake of revelations that he had vetted the CBI's status report on the coal blocks allocation case before it was submitted to the Supreme Court.

"There is no question of the law minister resigning," he had told reporters after the defence investiture ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhawan.

CBI director Ranjit Sinha had filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court on Friday, confirming that the status report had been "shared" with Union law minister Ashwani Kumar and an officer each from the coal ministry and Prime Minister's Office "as desired by them".

The PM on Saturday had also ruled out resigning himself, as demanded by the BJP, and instead challenged them to a debate on the issue in Parliament.

"This is not the first time in the last nine years that the Opposition has demanded my resignation," he said.

At high-level political meetings that Singh convened on the issue later in week, there had been a view that Kumar's continuation in the ministry was now untenable.

Asked directly if he was using the law minister to shield himself from the coal allotments probe as the BJP has alleged, Singh only reiterated that the matter was sub judice.