Coal news and updates

CBI books SKS Ispat, directors in coal block allocation case

CBI conducts searches at Mumbai, Raigarh, Raipur and Delhi; total number of cases filed by it now stands at 26

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday registered three more first information reports (FIRs) in the coal block allocation case. The FIRs were registered against SKS Ispat and Power Ltd, its promoter and directors, members of the 35th screening committee, public servants and others, a CBI official said. The CBI has named Anil Gupta, the company’s chairman and managing director, and Deepak Gupta, its joint managing director in the FIR.

The cases have been registered on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating and criminal misconduct, the official added. The CBI conducted searches at Mumbai, Raigarh, Raipur and Delhi, the official said. With these three FIRs, the total number filed by the agency so far in the coal scam case stands at 26. The company is alleged to have “misrepresented on aspect of preparedness and was ineligible on aspect of net worth (for being awarded the block)”, the official said. SKS Ispat was awarded the Ravanwara North block in Madhya Pradesh in May 2007 to develop a sponge-iron production unit. In September 2012, the coal ministry took back the block from the company for not developing it.

In 2012, there was intense media speculation around the company since Sudhir Kant Sahay, the brother of former Union minister and Congress leader Subodh Kant Sahay, was an executive director on its board. The former Union tourism minister was accused by the then opposition parties, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, of recommending to former prime minister Manmohan Singh in 2008 that the company should be allotted coal blocks in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. Singh, who was then in-charge of the coal ministry, had reportedly sent a letter to the coal secretary in February 2008 recommending that the firm be given blocks. The CBI official said on Tuesday that neither brother had been named in its FIR.

The former Union minister had denied any link with the firm. “The minister had not written any letter for the Ravanwara coal block situated in Madhya Pradesh and the block was allocated to SKS Ispat on May 29 2007,” the Press Trust of India, quoting Sahay’s media advisor, had said on 20 September 2012. “Sahay and his brother do not hold any stake nor have promoted the company,” the media advisor had been quoted as having said. On 27 October 2012, Sahay quit the Union cabinet, in a move that was seen as a direct fallout of allegations against him and his brother. To be sure, Sahay had resigned ahead of a cabinet reshuffle, along with several former ministers, including Mukul Wasnik and Ambika Soni.

The CBI official said Tuesday’s FIR was filed based on a recommendation by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC). On 29 March, the Supreme Court (SC), which is monitoring the investigation in the coal block allocation scam, asked the CBI to share the investigation files with CVC. The apex court asked CBI to share with CVC files related to all such cases where there was a difference of opinion between the investigating officer and senior CBI officials on filing a chargesheet or a closure report. CBI is probing the allocation of captive coal fields between 1993 and 2010 as part of a court-monitored probe. Coalfield allocations came under the scanner in August 2012 when the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) submitted a report alleging a notional loss of Rs.1.86 trillion due to wrongful allotments. It also alleged the blocks were awarded in an opaque manner.

Source: www.livemint.com