Records sent to competent authority for sanction: CBI to court

CBI today informed a special court that they have sent the records of a coal block allocation case to the competent authority to consider according sanction to prosecute public servants allegedly involved in the matter.
The agency also filed progress report of its ongoing probe in the case before the court, which had earlier directed it to conduct further investigation into the alleged role and collusion between public servants and company officials.
The court, while directing further probe in the matter, had observed that the functioning of then Prime Minister Office officials "does not appear to be above board".
"Progress report has been filed. IO (investigating officer) states that necessary record has been sent to the competent authority for considering according of sanction to prosecute the public servants," Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar said.

"Accordingly, the matter (may) now be put up for progress report of further investigation on March 30," he said.
CBI has chargesheeted Nagpur-based Grace Industries Ltd (GIL) and one of its directors Mukesh Gupta as accused in the case for the offence under section 420 (cheating) of the IPC.
The court, in its earlier order, had said that when there were specific remarks by then Minister of State for Coal Dasari Narayan Rao that GIL was "not eligible" for allocation of Lohara (East) coal block in Maharashtra, the PMO officials should have highlighted the same before the file was submitted to then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was also handling the Coal Ministry portfolio at that time.

The court, in its order, had asked CBI to place before the sanctioning authority the records of the case so that they could consider the question of according sanction to prosecute two public servants -- K S Kropha, then Joint Secretary in Coal Ministry, and Vishwas Sawakhande, Director of Directorate of Geology and Mining Maharashtra government, for offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA).