I-T, ED on trail in coal allocations scam

In more trouble for allotees of coal blocks, the Income Tax Department and the Enforcement Directorate are scanning investments and finances of the firms that are alleged to have illegally benefited in the scam.

Both the agencies, under the finance ministry, have begun a discreet inquiry into the firms, especially those who have been recently booked by the CBI in its latest FIR.

Sources monitoring the probes said while the agencies are yet to be officially handed over the CBI complaint, they have begun a preliminary exercise to obtain data about the "financial activities" of these firms.

Sources said the I-T could also carry out searches of the official premises of some of the firms against whom they detect contravention of tax laws.

The CBI, earlier this month, had registered cases against five companies for alleged criminal conspiracy to get coal blocks by fudging their net worth figures and misrepresentation of facts.

While the CBI has has named five companies--JLD Yavatmal Energy Limited, JAS Infrastructure Capital Private Limited, AMR Iron and Steel, Navbharat Power Private Limited and Vini Iron and Steel Udyog Limited--with their 20 directors and unknown government officials, it may register more cases against few other firms who were allocated blocks. Both I-T and the ED, according to sources, have information about the finances of few companies who were allocated coal blocks as the agencies had probed separate cases in this regard last year.

While the I-T carried out a high-profile raid on a coal businessman last year in Jharkhand leading to recovery of cash to the tune of more than Rs 70 crore, the ED had probed select coal mining firms during its probe against former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda. While the I-T would look to find the evasion of taxes and hiding of profits by suspect firms in the coal business, the ED is looking for ant criminal routing of funds that escaped the eye of the tax and enforcement agencies.