Interim bail to five in Jindal coal block case

A court here on Thursday gave interim bail to five persons in a coal block allocation case against former Congress MP Naveen Jindal and others.

The five accused are: Jindal Steel advisor Anand Goel, former Deputy Manager (Finance) Siddharth Madra, Deputy General Manager Rajeev Aggarwal, Director (Finance) Sushil Kumar Maroo and Nihar Stocks Ltd Director B.S.N. Suryanarayan.

Special Judge Bharat Parashar extended the interim bail till May 25 after defence counsels sought more time to prepare arguments.

The counsels told the court that they do not have complete sets of chargesheet and documents related to the case.

The court then directed a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) official to remain present till the copies of chargesheet are provided.

On March 24, after considering the chargesheet, the court issued summons to the accused. The CBI has opposed the bail plea of accused persons.

The court has asked the accused to furnish a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh each.

It has taken cognizance of the offences of criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and cheating under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as well as criminal misconduct under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The CBI has alleged that the five persons were actively involved in the transfer of Rs 2 crore from Jindal Realty, New Delhi Exim, to Sowbhagya Media Ltd (SML).

The CBI also said the money was transferred to Sowbhagya Media, a company controlled by former Minister of State for Coal Dasari Narayana Rao, to show favour in the allotment of Jharkhand's Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block to Jindal Steel and Gagan Sponge.

The accused have denied the charges.

--IANS

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