Coal scam: CBI discovered 25 crores from Hindalco premises, says Prashant Bhushan

Senior Advocate Prashant Bhushan on Monday said that the CBI recovered Rs 25 crores in cash from the Hindalco premises during the Hindalco coal allocation scam investigation.

"In the Hindalco coal allocation matter, the CBI investigation discovered 25 crores in cash in the Hindalco premises and also a diary was recovered in which payment of crores were made to various officials including officials from the Environment Ministry," Bhushan told ANI here.

"Despite that, the CBI did not conduct any investigation into the payments which were shown in the diary and just handed over the matter to the income tax department and the Enforcement Directorate. So, we have filed a petition that the CBI must investigate these matters," Bhushan added.

"The court read the report of the Enforcement Directorate and it showed that they have been asking several questions from the CBI. The CBI has been asked to respond on that and the matter has been fixed for September 21," he added.

Meanwhile, a special court on Monday set September 21 for hearing the CBI's reply on former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda's plea seeking summoning of former prime minister Manmohan Singh in the coal block allocation case involving Jindal Steel.