Coal news and updates

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday chargesheeted Congress's Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Darda, his son Devendra Darda, Manoj Jayaswal of Nagpur-based Abhijeet Group and his company AMR Iron and Steel Pvt Ltd. The agency accused them of manipulating the allocation of Bander coal block. 

 

The coal block was allocated to AMR which is owned by Jayaswal and has Devendra Darda among its directors. 

 

This is CBI's second chargesheet in the Coalgate scam, and the first one against a politician. 

 

Sources said the chargesheet against the Dardas and Jayaswal for alleged cheating, criminal conspiracy and violation of Prevention of Corruption Act, alleges that Vijay Darda wrote a fake letter to the Prime Minister's Officer seeking allocation of Bander coal block to AMR even when it was not eligible. 

 

CBI sources said AMR Iron and Steel got the Bander coal block because of efforts made by Darda who was given 26% free equity in return. 

 

The AMR Group has also been accused of not reporting to the coal ministry that it had already been allocated five coal blocks before it applied for Bander. 

 

In its first chargesheet in the Coalgate scam, CBI had on March 10 accused Navbharat Power Private Limited and its two directors -- P Trivikrama Prasad and Y Harish Chandra Prasad -- of obtaining Rampia and dipside of Rampia coal blocks by misrepresenting facts. 

 

The agency on Thursday also filed two fresh cases and two closure reports in the coal scam. CBI closed cases registered against Kamal Sponge & Power Pvt Ltd and Vikash Metals Pvt Ltd, which got coal blocks between 2006 and 2009. 

 

The agency also filed two fresh cases on Thursday. The first was filed against Central Collieries Company Ltd (Nagpur), its director G D Daga and unknown public servants. Second FIR was registered against promoter-director Ved Prakash Agarwal of Prakash Industries Ltd of Delhi and unknown public servants. CBI conducted raids in Delhi, Nagpur, Mumbai, Jangir and Bilaspur after registering the cases. 

 

CBI alleged that Central Collieries was selling coal in the open market against the concept of captive allocation of coal mines for a specified end-use product. In the Prakash Industries case, the charges are those of misrepresentation of net worth while applying for allocations, CBI spokesperson Kanchan Prasad said. 

 

Prakash Industries was awarded the Chotia coal block in 2003 and parts of the Madanpur (North) and Fatehpur coal blocks in Chhattisgarh in 2006 and 2008, respectively. Central Collieries was awarded the Takli-Jena-Bellora coal block in Maharashtra in 1998, but this allocation was cancelled in 2003. 

 

The chargesheet, FIRs and closure reports were filed a day before the agency has to file its status report in the Supreme Court. 

 

 

Source: ToI