Coal scam: Court grants bail to Director of Gondwana Ispat Ltd

A special court today granted bail to Gondwana Ispat Ltd's (GIL) Director Ashok Daga, accused in a coal scam case pertaining to alleged irregularities in the allocation of a Maharashtra coal block to the firm.
Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar granted the relief to Daga, who appeared before the court in pursuance to summons issued against him, on a personal bond of Rs one lakh with one surety of the like amount.
Daga's counsel moved the bail plea before the court and said his client had cooperated with CBI during the probe and there was no need to remand him in judicial custody as he was not arrested by the agency.

However, no authorised representative of the accused firm GIL appeared before the court today, after which the judge issued fresh summons against the company.
"Fresh summons be issued to the accused company GIL and the same be served through the investigating officer on Delhi address and corporate office at Maharashtra. Copy of summons be pasted on the office of the company and its photograph be filed in the court," the judge noted in his order and fixed the case for further hearing on February 23.
The court had earlier summoned GIL and Daga as accused in the case for allegedly misrepresenting facts to get the Majra coal block allocated to it in 2003. An FIR was lodged in the matter in 2014.

The court had summoned them for the alleged offences of criminal conspiracy and cheating under the IPC.

CBI has alleged in the charge sheet that during the probe, it was found that Daga had made "unsubstantiated claim even towards financial preparedness and tie-up regarding iron ore with Odisha government".
It has alleged that as the Ministry of Coal (MOC) then was not following any system of checking falsity of information provided by an applicant firm, M/S GIL and Daga in furtherance of a criminal conspiracy misrepresented to various government authorities and induced them to reserve or allocate Majra coal block in their favour.

The court also said prima facie substantive offences
under the Prevention of Corruption Act are made out against Kropha and Samria.
"Charge for the offence under section 409 IPC and for the offences under... PC Act are made out against accused Gupta.
"Charge for the offence under section 420 IPC is also prima facie made out against accused company M/s Vikash Metal and Power Ltd (VMPL), Patni and Mallick," it said.
The CBI had on January 28 placed before the court a Central government order according sanction to prosecute Kropha and Samria for their alleged involvement in the case. It had also filed a report on its further probe in the case.

Regarding Gupta, CBI had said that lapses in processing the application were found on his part too, but since he had retired, no action was being recommended.
CBI had said that VMPL wrongly claimed that it had been allocated 300 acres of land in Begusarai in Bihar by the Bihar Area Development Authority.
The agency had found that the land was de-allocated and directors of the company failed to inform the screening committee members about it, it had said.