Naveen Jindal charged with criminal conspiracy in coal scam case

Similar charges against ex-Jharkhand CM Koda & former coal secy H C Gupta

A special CBI court here charged Naveen Jindal, chairman of Jindal Steel & Power, with criminal conspiracy in a case of inappropriate allocation of the Amarkonda coal block in Jharkhand.

The court framed similar charges against former Minister of State for Coal Dasari Narayan Rao, former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda and former Coal Secretary H C Gupta.

Shares of JSPL fell 6.56 per cent after the pronouncement by the court.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had alleged that Madhu Koda had favoured Jindal group firms — Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) and Gagan Sponge Iron Private Ltd (GSIPL) — in allocation of Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block in Jharkhand.

Along with Jindal, Rao, Koda, and Gupta, a total of 15 people are also booked under Section 120(B) of the Indian Penal Code in the case pertaining to alleged irregularities in allocation of the coal block to JSPL and GSIPL. Section 120 (B) pertains to ‘punishment of criminal conspiracy’.

The court also charged five companies — JSPL, Jindal Realty Pvt Ltd, Gagan Infraenergy Ltd (formerly known as GSIPL), Sowbhagya Media Ltd and New Delhi Exim Pvt Ltd. These companies and persons are booked under Section 120 of the Indian Penal Code pertaining to criminal offence. The court will now put them under trial under the same and a final judgment will be passed in the next hearing.

The court has allowed Jindal “to visit Austria and other Schengen countries along with United Kingdom from May 6 to May 13 on account of marriage of his nephew.” The permission has been granted on the condition that Jindal furnish Rs 20 lakh and inform the court about his travel itinerary.

The court observed, “various acts of omission and commission as committed by the accused persons, if considered comprehensively, prima facie show that they all were acting in pursuance to a criminal conspiracy whose sole objective was to accommodate M/s JSPL and M/s GSIPL in Amarkonda Murgadangal Coal Block.”

JSPL in a statement said that it will stand vindicated. “In the context of the special court’s order with respect to allocation of the Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block and the charges thereof; JSPL reiterates it is confident that it will stand vindicated at the end of the ongoing judicial process. We deny all allegations made against our company and its management. We have full faith in the Indian judicial system and are confident to come out clean during the process.”

The company maintained the said allocation was made “purely on merits and all along the course of the investigation, the company and its officials have fully cooperated with the authorities, and whenever asked, explained and provided all supporting documents”.

This is the second major judgment to come in the coal block allocation scam case. Last month, the special court had awarded a four-year jail term to R C Rungta, chairman and R S Rungta, director of Jharkhand Ispat Private Limited (JIPL). It also imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on each of the convicts held guilty for deceiving and defrauding the government to bag a coal block in Jharkhand. A fine of Rs 25 lakh was also imposed on JIPL.

CBI had started a probe against the allotment of coal, after a Comptroller and Auditor General report in 2012 alleged a Rs 1.86-lakh crore windfall gain to companies. A special CBI court was set up to exclusively deal with cases related to this scam.