Naveen Jindal, 9 others get bail
Congress leader and industrialist Naveen Jindal, former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda, former minister of state for coal Dasari Narayan Rao and seven others were on Friday granted bail by a trial court in the coal block scam.
The trial court in a coal block allocation case granted bail on Friday to Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) chairman Naveen Jindal, former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda, former Union minister of state for coal Dasari Narayan Rao, former Union coal secretary H C Gupta and six others.
They have all been charged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the probe agency and the prosecuting one. Judge Bharat Parashar granted bail to all the 10 accused on a personal bond of ~1 lakh each and a like surety. They are not to leave India without the court's permission. The further hearing is on June 1.
Others granted bail are Suresh Singhal, director of New Delhi Exim; Rajeev Jain, director of Jindal Realty; Girish Kumar Suneja and Radha Krishna Saraf, both directors of Gagan Sponge Iron; K Ramakrishna Prasad, managing director of Sowbhagya Media, and chartered accountant Gyan Swaroop Garg.
Besides the 10, the authorised representatives of five companies which have also been charged -- JSPL, Jindal Realty, Gagan Infraenergy (new name of Gagan Sponge Iron), Sowbhagya Media and New Delhi Exim also appeared before the court.
“The court was informed that there was no loss or gain to anyone as no exploration could be undertaken in the said coal block because of intense Naxal activities in that area. The company has not violated any rules and regulations and allocation was made to the company purely on merit. The company has full faith in the judiciary and is confident to come out clean and stand vindicated,” stated JSPL.
The bail plea was opposed by prosecutor V K Sharma, who said the witnesses could be influenced or evidence tampered with, as most of the accused were high-profile industrialists or politicians, and the prosecution witnesses were mostly their employees.
The alleged irregularities in question are in allocation of the Amarkonda Murgadangal block in Jharkhand to two Jindal group firms, JSPL and Gagan, in 2008.
CBI had filed a chargesheet against 15 accused, including five companies, for alleged conspiracy in securing the block. The alleged offences are of criminal conspiracy and cheating, and under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
In June 2013, the agency had carried out raids and registered a First Information Report against Jindal and Rao on cheating, criminal conspiracy and misconduct.
The agency had alleged JSPL and Gagan Sponge Iron had misrepresented facts and given wrong information about the company's land, water supply and previous allocations, to secure the block.