Coal block case: CBI wants summons for two on corruption charges

The CBI Tuesday moved a special court for issuing summons against two government officials in the coal block allocation case against Kamal Sponge Steel and Power Ltd under corruption charges.

Public Prosecutor V.K. Sharma moved a plea before Special Judge Bharat Parashar and sought the court's direction against the coal ministry's then joint secretary K.S. Kropha, and then director (coal allocation-1 section) K.C. Samaria as accused in the case under additional charges dealing with provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The court fixed Oct 30 for delivering order on the agency's plea.

The court had Oct 13 issued summons against former coal secretary H.C. Gupta and the Madhya Pradesh-based company and its director Pavan Ahluwalia, senior official Amit Goyal and directed them to appear before it Oct 31, after rejecting the CBI's closure report.

The court has also summoned both the government officials as accused in the case under various charges dealing with cheating, criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust.

The court has taken cognizance of the offences under sections dealing with criminal conspiracy, cheating and various provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The CBI had lodged an FIR, accusing the company and others of allegedly misrepresenting facts, including inflated net worth, to acquire coal blocks.

After a probe, the CBI filed a closure report saying it did not find sufficient evidence against the firm and its director to proceed with the case.