Coal scam: Naveen Jindal, Rao, Koda & seven others get bail

Congress leader and industrialist Naveen Jindal, former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda, ex -Minister of State for Coal Dasari Narayan Rao and seven others were today granted bail by a special court which asked them not to tamper with evidence or influence witnesses.
The court granted them the relief after they appeared before it and sought bail on the ground that they have joined the investigation and there was no apprehension that they would flee from justice.
Apart from Jindal, Rao and Koda, the court granted bail to former coal Secretary Harish Chandra Gupta and six others on furnishing of a personal bond of Rs one lakh each and a surety of like amount.

Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar directed the accused not to leave the country without the court's prior permission and fixed the matter for June 1 for scrutiny of documents.
While granting bail, the court said undoubtedly the allegations against the accused persons were serious in nature and moreso as they occupied high position in the society.
"However, at the same time it is also true that during the course of investigation, none of the accused persons were arrested by CBI and there has been no allegation that they did not join the investigation as and when called for," it said.

"I, thus, without entering into any further details on merits or demerits of the case at this stage of the matter, deem it appropriate that the interest of justice will be suitably met if all the above 10 accused persons are released on bail...," the judge said.

During the hearing, CBI vehemently opposed the bail pleas of Jindal and others saying the accused are high profile industrialists, politicians and public servants.
Senior Public Prosecutor V K Sharma said most of the prosecution witnesses were employees of various industries of the accused persons and there were chances of tampering with evidence. Also considering the seriousness of the allegations, the accused persons should not be released on bail, he said.

The accused were summoned by the court in the case pertaining to alleged irregularities in allocation of Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block in Jharkhand to two Jindal group firms, Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) and Gagan Sponge Iron Pvt Ltd (GSIPL).