Congress leader Naveen Jindal was on Wednesday summoned as an accused in the coal block allocation scam case after a special court took cognizance of a charge sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation in which the probe agency claimed that Jindal had 'conspired' with former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda to recommend his two companies for allocation of Amarkonda Murgadangal Coal Block.
Congress leader Naveen Jindal was on Wednesday summoned as an accused in the coal block allocation scam case after a special court took cognizance of a charge sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation in which the probe agency claimed that Jindal had 'conspired' with former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda to recommend his two companies for allocation of Amarkonda Murgadangal Coal Block.
The probe agency told the court that the industrialist had promised the support of Congress party to the 'unstable' Koda government in return for the allocation of coal blocks. The CBI further said that Naveen Jindal had met Madhu Koda several times in Ranchi and also in Delhi. Koda who had won the election as an independent had not joined any political party even after being chief minister, his government was not very stable, said the court order, quoting CBI.
"The promise of Congress support to stabilise his government and help him in completing his term was an assurance/favour extended by Naveen Jindal to Madhu Koda in lieu of the recommendation of allocation of coal block," it read further.
The court summoned the accused for alleged offences punishable under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating) and 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant) of the IPC and under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PC Act) after taking cognizance of the CBI charge sheet.
The court also summoned 14 other accused in the same case which include Madhu Koda and Dasari Narayan Rao, the former minister of state for coal.
"I am summoning all the 15 accused under Sections 120-B, 420 and 409 of the IPC read with 13(1)(c) and 13(1)(d) (criminal misconduct by a public servant) of the Prevention of Corruption Act," said Special CBI judge Bharat Parashar. The judge set May 22 as the next date for the hearing, and all the accused, including five firms, were directed to appear on the fixed day.
Out of the 15 charge sheeted accused persons, five are juristic persons (companies) which include Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL), Jindal Realty Pvt Ltd, Gagan Infraenergy Ltd, New Delhi Exim Pvt Ltd and Soubhagya Media Ltd.
Besides Jindal, Koda and Rao, the other seven accused summoned by the court are former coal secretary H C Gupta, Gyan Swaroop Garg, Suresh Singhal, Rajeev Jain, Girish Kumar Suneja, R K Saraf and K Ramakrishna Prasad.
Responding to the trial court order, a JSPL spokesperson denied the allegations made against its management and said that the company was confident that it will stand vindicated at the end of the ongoing judicial process.
"We will be availing appropriate remedy in accordance with law. We have full faith in our judiciary and are confident to come out clean during the process. The said allocation was made to the company on merits and all along the course of the investigation the company and its officials have fully co-operated with the authorities, and whenever asked, explained and provided all the supporting documents," the spokesperson said.
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