Coal scam: Naveen Jindal faces additional charges

A special court of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday ordered framing of additional charges against industrialist and Congress leader Naveen Jindal for alleged abetment of bribery in the Amarkonda Murgdangal coal allocation case.

Abetment of bribery is a punishable offence under Section 12 in the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, with imprisonment for a term of six months to five years.

The court has also ordered framing of charges against Nihar Stock Ltd Director BSN Surya Narayan, Mumbai Essar Power Ltd executive vice chairman Sushil Maroo and Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) advisor Anand Goel under section 120 (B) of the Indian Penal Code (criminal conspiracy).

Earlier, the CBI special court had framed charges against Jindal and others for alleged bribery in the case pertaining to irregularities in the Jharkhand coal blocks.

An additional charge sheet was filed later against Narayan, Maroo, Goel and Gurgaon based Green Infra's Sidharth Madra, and Mumbai-based K. E. international chief financial officer Rajiv Aggarwal.

On September 4 last year, the court granted bail to Jindal along with three others in connection with alleged irregularities pertaining to the Urtan North Coal Block in Madhya Pradesh on condition of furnishing a bond of Rs 1 lakh each.