Agency sources said the three secretaries of departments, which were part of the decision making process, might be questioned regarding recommendation given to JSPL and Gagan Sponge.
Three senior officers of Jharkhand government who were part of the screening committee which cleared Jindal Steel and Power Limited and Gagan Sponge Iron Limited's names for allocation of coal blocks have come under the scanner of the CBI which might question them soon.
Agency sources said the three secretaries of departments, which were part of the decision making process, might be questioned regarding recommendation given to JSPL and Gagan Sponge.
They also said that one of these secretaries was considered close to the then Chief Minister Madhu Koda.
Three meetings of 35th screening committee took place in Delhi for the allocation of the block in June 20-23, July 30 and September 13 in 2007.
The sources said Jharkhand government had earlier recommended that Amarkonda Murgadangal block be given to three companies -- JSPL, Gagan Sponge and another private company.
However, there was a sudden change in the opinion of the Jharkhand government and it said that the block should be given only to JSPL and Gagan Sponge thus withdrawing its recommendations to the third company.
The sources said the coal block which was to be shared between three companies was finally awarded to only two companies which have been named in the latest FIR registered by the agency for alleged irregularities.
The sudden change in the stance of the Jharkhand government has come under the scanner of CBI and it might soon question the officials who were part of the decision making process.
CBI has booked JSPL Director Naveen Jindal, the then Minister of State for Coal Dasari Narayan Rao along with five companies--JSPL, Jindal Realty, Gagan Sponge, New Delhi Exim and Saubhagya Media owned by Rao for alleged cheating and graft in its 12th FIR in the coal scam probe.
The sources said JSPL and Gagan Sponge Iron Limited, also a firm belonging to Jindal, had bagged Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block in Birbhum in Jharkhand in 2008 by alleged misrepresentation of facts when Rao was the Minister of State for Coal in the then Koda government.
Within a year, a block was allocated to JSPL in January 2008, CBI sources claimed, noting that shares of Rao's firm Saubhagya Media listed at Rs 28 that time were purchased by one of Jindal's firm New Delhi Exim Limited at a whopping Rs 100 per share with total investment of nearly Rs 2.25 crore which is alleged to be illegal gratification.
"JSPL, as a law abiding company, is governed by a strong ethical code of conduct. This is an ongoing CBI investigation into coal block allocation. At this stage of investigation, JSPL is committed to fully cooperate with CBI," Head of External Affairs, JSPL, Manu Kapoor had said.
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