Showing posts with label Coal scam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Coal scam. Show all posts

Friday, 22 May 2015

Coal scam: Court grants bail to Naveen Jindal, Madhu Koda and others


Jindal, Rao, Koda, former coal Secretary Harish Chandra Gupta and others appeared as accused before the special CBI Judge Bharat Parasar and moved separate pleas seeking bail.

During the arguments, senior advocate Ramesh Gupta, appearing for Jindal, told the court that his client had joined the investigation as and when called by the CBI and there was no apprehension that he would abscond or flee from justice.

The counsel representing other nine individual accused told the court that their clients were not arrested during the investigation and there was no likelihood that any one of them will abscond.

Senior public prosecutor V K Sharma opposed the bail pleas saying the accused in the case are high profile industrialists and politicians and most of the prosecution witnesses are their employees and could influence the witnesses or tamper with the evidence if released on bail.

The judge, after hearing the submissions, granted bail to the ten individuals accused, saying, "I deem it appropriate... to admit all ten accused on bail on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh each with one surety of the like amount."

The court also directed the accused not to leave India without its prior permission and fixed the matter for further hearing on June 1.

Besides Jindal, Rao, Koda and Gupta, the other accused who were granted bail are Suresh Singhal, Director of New Delhi Exim Pvt Ltd, Rajeev Jain, Director of Jindal Realty Pvt Ltd, Girish Kumar Suneja and Radha Krishna Saraf, both Directors of Gagan Sponge Iron Pvt Ltd (GSIPL), K Ramakrishna Prasad, Managing Director of Sowbhagya Media Ltd and chartered accountant Gyan Swaroop Garg.


Thursday, 26 March 2015

Former PM Manmohan Singh, Kumar Mangalam Birla move SC against summon orders

On 11th March, special CBI court summoned the former Prime Minister as an accused in a coal scam case. Industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla, former coal secretary P C Parakh and three others were also summoned as accused.

The court summoned them for offences of criminal conspiracy, breach of trust and under provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act. They have all been asked to appear before the court on April 8.

In September 2005, Parakh recommended the allocation of the Talabira-II and Talabira-III coal blocks jointly to Hindalco, Mahanadi Coalfields and Neyveli Lignite. Hindalco is an Aditya Birla Group firm. The-then prime minister, who was holding the additional charge of the Coal Ministry, had approved the proposal in October that year.

In October 2013, the CBI had filed an FIR in which it named Parakh and Birla for criminal conspiracy and criminal misconduct. The CBI had filed its closure report in the case in August 2014, citing lack of evidence of wrongdoing against the duo.

However, the Supreme Court had in September last year pulled up the CBI for being in a hurry to close the case. The investigating agency filed its revised report in October.
Later in November, the CBI said that it has enough material on record to take cognisance of the offences.

However, the court asked the CBI as to why the former prime minister was not examined and in December directed the agency to record Manmohan Singh's statement.