Coalscam: HC extends interim bail granted to Rungta brothers

Delhi High Court on Tuesday extended the interim bail granted to two directors of Jharkhand Ispat Pvt Ltd (JIPL), R S Rungta and R C Rungta, who were convicted and sentenced to four years in jail in a coal block allocation scam case.

Justice Vipin Sanghi extended the relief to the Rungtas till January 23 next year after he was informed by CBI that they have moved Supreme Court for “expeditious disposal” of the coal cases.

CBI’s Special Public Prosecutor R S Cheema, said till the application before the apex court in this behalf is heard, he will not oppose the grant of suspension of sentence and the interim bail in so far as the applicants are concerned.

Cheema said they have filed an application before the Supreme Court for day-to-day hearing in the matter, which has not yet been heard.

Taking note of the CBI’s contention, the court extended its interim order till January 23, 2017. The two were granted relief on May 13 on a personal bond of Rs 10 lakh each with two sureties of the like amount each. The bench had earlier sought CBI’s response on the appeals filed by the Rungta duo, who were sentenced on April 4 by the special court saying the country was lagging behind in development due to such “unscrupulous businessmen”.

The special court had also imposed a fine of Rs five lakh each on R S Rungta, 79, and R C Rungta, 60, who were convicted on March 28 for the offences of cheating and criminal conspiracy under IPC.

It had also slapped a fine of Rs 25 lakh on the company JIPL which was also held guilty along with the Rungta duo.

It was the first case in the coal scam which was decided by the special court, constituted exclusively to deal with all such cases.