CBI to finalise six coal FIRs

CBI is not close to finalising its probe in the Birla matter although it has questioned executives of Hindalco

Even as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) plans to finalise six of the 16 First Information Reports (FIRs) it had registered in the coal allocation matter by March. The one related to industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla is unlikely to figure in this list, it is learnt.

The investigative agency is trying to consolidate its probe into the 16 FIRs. It is unlikely to register new cases in the allocation scam for now, said a senior official. The agency will update the Supreme Court in its next status report about progress in the investigations. CBI is aiming to file chargesheets in some of the earlier FIRs, lodged in 2012.

The agency is not close to finalising a probe in the Birla matter, although it has questioned executives of Hindalco, the company accused. It is also planning to question former Union coal secretary P C Parakh, another accused, for the first time after the case was registered. Parakh told Business Standard the CBI had yet to make contact with him. The agency registered an FIR against Birla and Parakh on October 15 last year, for alleged criminal conspiracy and abuse of official position.

CBI alleged Birla met Parakh to push for allocation of the Talabira-II block in Jharsuguda district of Odisha in the second half of 2005.

In September last year, CBI had registered five cases against 20 accused, including five private companies. Thereafter, it named some high-profile names as accused, including Naveen Jindal, chairman of Jindal Steel and Power, and Udit Rathi, chief executive of Rathi Steel and Power.

After three months of preliminary enquiry which started in June 2012, CBI registered FIRs against AMR Iron and Steel, JLD Yavatmal, Navbharat Power, Vini Iron &Steel and Jas Infrastructure, on charges of cheating and criminal conspiracy.    

It had said Jas Infra, Kolkata, and Nagpur based AMR and JLD Yavatmal, apparently belonged to the same promoter. While applying for blocks, they falsely declined to have been allocated any earlier, forging figures to inflate their net worth, one of the criteria for allocation. Hyderabad-based Navbharat Power has similar charges. The agency says it found the company had attached various bank letters to its applications, saying they were ready to take up such projects; the borrowing came later.

Similarly, Vini Iron and Steel of Kolkata said it had a tie-up with 15 companies, allegedly to increase their net worth. A CBI investigation said nine of these denied joining the group. The company had made the claim to get the Rajhara North block.