State scan: Big scam involving small politicians in Chhattisgarh

A senior executive of one of India’s largest conglomerates having steel operations across the globe was stunned to get notice from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in November last year.

The agency asked him to report for recording statements under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. After completing the home work, the executive turned up at the ED office in Raipur.

The officers gave him a questionnaire and asked him: When did the company start paying an extortion sum of Rs 25 per tonne, and why? Without any falter, the executive said: “I don’t recall the date of making payment to Roshan Singh. However, the payment of an extortion amount of Rs 25 per tonne was stated by the company against the DO (delivery order) of July 2020.”

The statement is part of the 251-page charge sheet (Business Standard has reviewed a copy) filed by the ED in a Raipur court on December 9 on Chhattisgarh’s coal levy scam. The central agency has alleged a scam that charges an illegal levy of Rs 25 for every tonne of coal transported in Chhattisgarh by a cartel involving bureaucrats, businessmen, politicians, and middlemen.

A transporter requires an e-transportation permit (TP) to move coal from the mine to the user. Before July 15, 2020, an online transparent system was in place where the TP was issued automatically. Sameer Vishnoi, an IAS officer, then at the Directorate of Geology and Mining, allegedly at the instance of a cartel run by a person named Suryakant Tiwari, modified the transparent online process into a system that made it prone to corruption.

The agency alleged that Tiwari, the kingpin of the racket, was a well-established “liaisoner” and businessman. He has good relations across the political spectrum and the backing of people in high positions, which changed his reputation from being a well-connected liaison person to something bigger in the past two-three years, the agency added.

The government order dated July 15, 2020 introduced the requirement of getting a manual non-objection certificate (NOC) from the mining office. It made coal user companies to physically apply for the NOC for issuing e-transport permits.

The evidence collected has revealed, according to the ED charge sheet, cash transactions relating to an organised syndicate being operated and coordinated by Tiwari along with his associates and other persons. Unauthorised cash was being extorted over and above the legal amount fixed against the DO for lifting and transporting coal throughout the state. Once the employees of Tiwari received the Rs 25 per tonne on coal to be transported, the message was then communicated to the mining officer and thereafter DOs were cleared for transport by issuing a manual NOC.

The ED said in the charge sheet on the basis of the documents, Tiwari and his associates reportedly extorted approximately Rs 540 crore. It has arrested nine people in the case so far, including Vishnoi, State Administrative Service Officer Soumya Chaurasia, and Tiwari.

It has alleged of the kickbacks in the case, Rs 52 crore went to the senior leader of a political party and Rs 4 crore to some Chhattisgarh MLAs.

The scam has, however, has not got much of a take-up in the political landscape. A retired IPS officer said the campaign of the Congress against the ED has thrown the case off its stride. “The crusade of misusing the ED had covered up the scam,” he said.

As of now, the issue has not posed a political challenge for Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel or the Congress. For, a corporate scam normally does not sway a large section of the population while the Opposition BJP is reluctant to rake up the matter.

According to political analysts, Baghel has to first keep his own house in order. “The scam is confined to only a few persons including bureaucrats, businessmen, and a section of politicians, and not the Congress party in general,” one of them said.

However, last month, Union Home Minister Amit Shah surprisingly selected a generally less politically significant Korba town to address a public meeting and lash out at the Congress government on corruption. And, Korba is known as the coal-mining hub of Chhattisgarh.