Ready with report seeking sanction in coalscam case: CBI

CBI today told a special court that it has prepared the report to be submitted before the competent authority to consider granting sanction to prosecute public servants allegedly involved in a coalscam case relating to allocation of blocks to Navbharat Power Pvt Ltd (NPPL).
CBI, which was earlier directed by the court to further investigate the matter in which it had filed a charge sheet against NPPL, its Managing Director and Vice-Chairman Harish Chandra Prasad and Chairman P Trivikrama Prasad, also filed the progress report of its ongoing probe in the case.
The investigating officer (IO) told Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar that further investigation was still going on in the case in pursuance of the order passed by the court.

"Progress report of further investigation has been filed. It has been submitted that necessary report has been prepared by the investigation agency for submitting to competent authority for considering according of sanction to prosecute the public servants involved in terms of orders passed by this court earlier," the judge said.
"Accordingly, matter be now put for submission of progress report of further investigation on January 28, 2015," the court said.
The court, in its order passed on November 12, had said that the acts of former Coal Secretary H C Gupta and two other government officials overlooking the alleged misrepresentation by NPPL for acquiring coal block in Rampia in Odisha prima facie amounted to criminal misconduct.

The court had differed from CBI's conclusion that no malafide intention was found on the part of public servants, saying it was prima facie clear that decision of allocating coal block to NPPL was taken by officers of the Ministry of Coal (MOC) and the screening committee without keeping public interest in mind.