Coal news and updates

The CBI had in 2014 filed a plea with the court to close the case but Mr. Parashar had rejected the closure report.

 

A Delhi court on Thursday framed charges of criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and cheating against former Rajya Sabha MP and chairman of Lokmat Media, Vijay Darda, former Coal Secretary H.C. Gupta, and five others in a coal block allocation scam case.

 

The court also framed charges against two senior bureaucrats, K.S. Kropha and K.C. Samria, allottee company JLD Yavatmal Energy Pvt Ltd, its Director Manoj Kumar Jayaswal, and Mr Darda’s son Devendra Darda after they pleaded not guilty.

 

The CBI had in 2014 filed a plea with the court to close the case but Mr. Parashar had rejected the closure report and asked the investigating agency to further probe the charges.

 

Case reopened

The court had then said Mr Darda had misrepresented the facts in letters to then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to get the Fatehpur (East) coal block in Chhattisgarh allotted to JLD Yavatmal Energy Pvt Ltd.

 

Mr. Singh was then holding the additional charge of the Ministry.

 

A prima facie offence of cheating was committed by private parties in furtherance of conspiracy hatched between them and the public servants, the court had then observed. JLD Yavatmal Energy Pvt Ltd was allotted the coal block by the Screening Committee.

 

The CBI FIR says that JLD Yavatmal had wrongfully concealed previous allocation of four coal blocks to its group companies in 1999-2005.

 

In another order, Mr. Parashar dismissed a petition by Yavatmal Energy to summon former Coal Minister Shibu Soren and erstwhile Minister of State for Coal Dasari Narayana Rao as accused in the case.

 

The Judge also imposed a cost of Rs. one lakh on the petitioner.

 

Citing excerpts from a book titled Crusader or Conspirator? Coalgate and others Truths written by then Coal Secretary P.C. Parekeh, counsel for the company had alleged that the former bureaucrat had apprised Mr Soren and Mr Rao that the existing system for allocation of coal blocks was discriminatory but both then ministers had overruled his concerns.

 

The role of the said two persons (Soren and Rao) was clear from the book written by Parekh. Hence, viewed from this angle, it was clear that Shibu Soren and Dasari Narayana Rao are the persons who were involved...and on the basis of the excerpts, the two should have been summoned as accused, counsel for the pettioner said.

SOurce:The Hindu