The industry chamber, CII, has expressed concern over action against respected and reputed individuals by CBI. It said that it should be ensured that atmosphere of fear is not created.

Reacting strongly to the case being registered by the CBI against Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of Aditya Birla group, CII in a press release issued on Friday said, “While it is absolutely within CBI’s rights to proceed against any person to ensure that the law of the land is preserved, irrespective of the stature of the person, it is desirable to ensure that all facts of the case are laid upfront before proceeding against respected and reputed individuals."
The CBI on Tuesday had filed a case against Mangalam in the allocation of a coal block in Odisha in 2005.

Kris Gopalakrishnan, president of CII said that reputations of institutions and individuals take years to build and therefore, extreme caution needs to be exercised before any action is taken. He said, “Every effort should be made to ensure that there is no atmosphere of fear created, when it comes to decision making. Swift decisions and transparent policy environment are pre requisites of an enabling business climate. This is best done if the government and industry work together.

On the issue of allocation of natural resources, the CII said that there is no one method applied to all the natural resources, when it comes to pricing and allocation. However, it added, every effort must be made to ensure that the process followed for a particular kind of natural resource ensures that there is no human discretion possible, even while ensuring that the national interests are given supremacy.