Coal scam: Naveen Jindal, Madhu Koda, 13 others charged by CBI

14 others, including ex- Jharkhand CM Madhu Koda, also named as accused

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday filed a chargesheet against Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) Chairman Naveen Jindal (pictured), former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda, former minister of state for coal Dasari Narayan Rao and former coal secretary H C Gupta, for an alleged conspiracy in securing a coal block in Jharkhand.

Apart from these officials, CBI also named 11 others — five companies, including JSPL and Jindal Realty Pvt Ltd, were also named — as accused in its charge.

The accused have been chargesheeted for alleged offences of criminal conspiracy and cheating, and under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar said this would be taken up for consideration on Thursday.

The case relates to allocation of the Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block in Jharkhand in 2008. In June 2013, the agency had carried out raids and registered a first information report (FIR) against Jindal and Rao for cheating, criminal conspiracy and misconduct in securing the block. CBI had also questioned Jindal after filing the case.

JSPL said in a statement: “The said allocation was made to the company on merits. We deny all allegations made against our company and its management. We will be availing appropriate remedy in accordance with law. We have full faith in our judiciary and are confident to come out clean during the process.”

Six other individuals named as accused in the CBI charge sheet are — Gyan Swaroop Garg, Suresh Singhal, Rajeev Jain, Girish Kumar Suneja, R K Saraf and K Ramakrishna Prasad.

In its FIR, the agency had alleged, JSPL and Gagan Sponge Iron (another company owned by Jindal) had misrepresented facts and allegedly given wrong information about the company’s land, water supply and previous allocations, to secure the coal block.