Naveen Jindal, 9 others granted bail in coal block allocation case

Industrialist and Congress leader Naveen Jindal, and nine other accused, including former Union minister Dasari Narayan Rao and former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda, were on Friday granted bail by a city court where they had appeared in connection with the coal block allocation scam.

Jindal and Koda were among the 10 accused who appeared in Patiala House court after being summoned by Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar on May 6. Their counsel argued that owing to the fact that the accused "had fully cooperated with the investigation" and that the Central Bureau of Investigation did not deem it necessary to arrest them during the investigation should be taken a valid enough reason for granting them bail.

The judge, after hearing the submissions, granted bail to the ten individual accused, saying, "I deem it appropriate to admit all ten accused on bail on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh each with one surety of the like amount." The court also directed the accused not to leave India without its prior permission and fixed the matter for further hearing on June 1.

While the counsel for Rao stated that the accused was minister of coal but the decision about allocation was taken by the then Prime Minister's Office, counsel for former coal secretary Harish Chandra Gupta also said Manmohan Singh's office was responsible for the final stamp on the allocation of coal blocks of Amarkonda Murgadangal.

Senior public prosecutor V K Sharma opposed the bail pleas saying the accused in the case were "high-profile industrialists and politicians" and were in a position to tamper with the evidence or influence witnesses if released on bail.

Jindal for most part of the trial appeared to be calm after greeting the judge with folded hands, smiling from time to time whilst exchanging pleasantries with those present in the courtroom which by the time he had arrived was jam packed with counsel members, media persons, CBI officers as well as a dozen of apprentices.

So much so the judge not being able to spot the accused properly even mentioned a possibility of imposing Section 327 of the Code Of Criminal Procedure, 1973 which would have contained public access to the open court.

During the arguments, senior advocate Ramesh Gupta, appearing for Jindal, told the court that his client had joined the investigation as and when called by the CBI and there was no apprehension that he would abscond or flee from justice.

The judge responded by saying that in the charge sheet filed by the CBI the probe agency had not given any indications that the accused men had attempted to influence the witnesses or tamper with the evidence. Jindal, Rao, Koda, HC Gupta and others had moved separate pleas seeking bail.

The other accused who were granted bail are Suresh Singhal, director of New Delhi Exim Pvt Ltd, Rajeev Jain, director of JindalRealty Pvt Ltd, Girish Kumar Suneja and Radha Krishna Saraf, both directors of Gagan Sponge Iron Pvt Ltd (GSIPL), K Ramakrishna Prasad, managing director of Sowbhagya Media Ltd and chartered accountant Gyan Swaroop Garg.

All of the accused were summoned after Central Bureau of Investigation filed a charge sheet against them in which the probe agency claimed, that Jindal had 'conspired' with ex- Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda to recommend his two companies for allocation of Amarkonda Murgadangal Coal Block.

The probe agency had told the court that the industrialist had promised the support of Congress party to the 'unstable' Koda government in return of the allocation of coal blocks.

The counsel of the accused also told the court that there were no losses or gains following the allocation due to Naxalite movement, but the judge asked for withdrawal of the statement which the counsel agreed to do.

However, JSPL in a statement later reiterated their stand and said, "The court was informed that there was no loss or gain to anyone as no exploration could be undertaken in the said coal block because of intense Naxal activities in that area."

The JSPL statement said, "The company has not violated any rules and regulations and allocation was made to the company purely on merit. The company has full faith in judiciary and is confident to come out clean and stand vindicated, upon outcome of the legal process, as there is no substantial case against any accused."