Coalscam: Accused move High Court against framing of charges

A Ranchi-based company, involved in a coal block allocation scam case, today moved the Delhi High Court challenging a special court order on framing of charges against it.
Justice Ashutosh Kumar fixed the matter for further hearing on October 10.
A special court had on January 27 ordered framing of charges against M/S Domco Pvt Ltd, its three directors Binay Prakash, Vasant Diwakar Manjrekar and Parmananda Mondal, chartered accountants Manoj Kumar Gupta and Sanjay Khandelwal in a coal block allocation case for allegedly misrepresenting facts to bag a coal block in Jharkhand.
CBI counsel Trannum Cheema opposed the maintainability of the writ petition saying the Supreme Court was already hearing the matter and hence the plea should not be entertained.

"No simultaneous proceedings. Not going to entertain since there is specific order of the Supreme Court," the court said.
It fixed the matter for October after the counsel for the company claimed that the court has the jurisdiction.

CBI has alleged in its charge sheet that Domco Pvt Ltd had applied to the Steel Ministry for allotment of a captive coal block to set up a pig iron plant of two lakh tonnes per annum capacity at Rairangpur in Odisha.
On the asking of the Ministry in November 2000, the firm had submitted an application for allotment of coal block to the Ministry of Coal (MOC).

CBI said that on the basis of information and documents furnished, MOC proceeded to finally allocate Lalgarh (North) Coal Block in West Bokaro Coal Fields of Jharkhand in favour of the firm for their plant at Rairangpur.
It has alleged that during the probe, it was found that M/S Domco Smokeless Fuels Pvt Ltd had misrepresented to the Ministries of Steel and Coal on a number of counts.