Coal news and updates

Naveen Jindal, other accused face court ire in coal scam case

A special CBI court on Tuesday came down heavily on Congress leader and industrialist Naveen Jindal and other accused in a coal block allocation scam for delaying proceedings in the criminal case against them.

While initially reluctant to grant any further time to the accused to complete scrutiny of documents in the matter, special CBI judge Bharat Parashar was persuaded by senior advocate Ramesh Gupta to fix August 17 as next date of hearing.

It warned the parties that on that day the process should be completed. The court also asked the investigating officer to ensure that documents now supplied to the accused should be legible and complete in all respect.

The court’s ire came when during a hearing of the case pertaining to alleged irregularities in allocation of Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block in Jharkhand to two Jindal group companies, Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) and Gagan Sponge Iron Pvt Ltd (GSIPL), the accused sought time to go through documents that were not legible.

“It is too late now. By when you will complete scrutiny of documents,” special judge Parashar said after the counsel appearing for Jindal and other accused sought time to complete scrutiny of documents saying the case records were voluminous and some of them were not legible.

“I have got the certified copy (of documents) checked thrice. At least 50 times you all have been allowed to inspect the court record. I will then hear the matter on a day-to-day basis,” the judge said.

source: http://www.hindustantimes.com