A special court ordered the framing of charges against industrialist Naveen Jindal and other accused in Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block allocation case on 29 April.
Former parliamentarian, industrialist and senior congress leader Naveen Jindal, former Union Minister of State for Coal Dasari Narayan Rao and former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda with others were chargesheeted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in April 2015. The case is related to the allocation of Jharkhand’s Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block to Jindal Steel and Gagan Sponge.
However, Jindal, Rao, Koda and others have denied the allegation against them and sought being discharged from the case.
Five private companies – four based in Delhi and one in Hyderabad – have also been named in the chargesheet.
The CBI has formally charged them with criminal conspiracy, cheating and various provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
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Rungtas Move High Court Against Conviction
Delhi High Court on 29 April sought the response of CBI on the appeals filed by Directors of Jharkhand Ispat Pvt Ltd (JIPL), RS Rungta and RC Rungta, challenging their conviction and the four-year sentence awarded to them in a coal scam case.
Justice Siddharth Mridul issued a notice to CBI and asked the agency to file its reply on the petitions by 6 May, the next date of hearing.
The court had imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh each on the Rungtas who were convicted on 28 March for offences of cheating and criminal conspiracy under the IPC.
It had also slapped a fine of Rs 25 lakh on the company JIPL which was also held guilty along with the Rungtas for involvement in the allocation of the North Dhadu coal block in Jharkhand to the firm.
The multi-crore coal block allocation scam was unearthed in 2012 when the Comptroller and Auditor General pinned the losses at Rs 1.86 lakh crore.
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