The special court trying former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda in the money laundering case could not frame charges against him on Thursday due to the absence of one of his alleged aides.
While Koda and his alleged aides Vijay Joshi, Binod Sinha and Arvind Vyas appeared before the court of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), another accused Manoj Babulal Punamia could not attend it.
Punamia's counsel informed the court of GK Singh that his client could not appear as he was under treatment for some ailment.
The court fixed February 27 as the next date for framing of charges.
Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate filed a petition before the PMLA court seeking to separate cases of former minister Kamlesh Singh from the Koda scam as charges against Singh and Koda were different.
It, instead, sought clubbing Vikas Sinha, alleged aide of the former chief minister, as his "proceeds" were related to Koda's.
After Sinha's counsel sought time to file a rejoinder on the ED petition, the court posted it for hearing on February 27. Koda and Kamlesh Singh were arrested on October 31, 2009 and November 1, 2009 respectively. Vikas Sinha was arrested on November 6, 2009 and his brother Binod was apprehended on September 16, 2010.
Their arrests followed IT/ED nation-wide raids at the premises of Koda and his alleged aides on October 31, 2009 during which illegal investments and hawala transactions to the tune of more than Rs2,500 crore were unearthed.
The ED team arrested Manoj Punamia and Arvind Vyas in August, 2010 in the same case.
All the accused are in judicial custody.
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