The Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) on Monday booked Congress member of parliament Naveen Jindal and former minister of state for coal Dasari Narayan Rao for being allegedly involved in cheating and exchange of bribe in the Coalgate scam.
This is the first time that direct exchange of bribe money is being probed in the scam as the agency registered its twelfth FIR under sections 420 (cheating), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 13 (1) (d) (prevention of corruption act) against the duo. Five private firms, four of them belonging to Jindal group and one to DS Rao, have also been booked.
CBI officials said that firstly Jindal’s accused firms misrepresented facts about the preparedness for becoming eligible for coal block allocation on three counts: land, water supply and previous allocations. The five firms which have been named in the FIR are: Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL), Bikaji Cama Place, whose director is Naveen Jindal himself, Gagan Sponge Iron Pvt Ltd (GSIPL), Najafgarh Road, Jindal Realty, Nehru Place, New Delhi Exim Pvt Ltd, sector 7, Rohini and Saubhagya Media Ltd.
‘The first four firms belong to the Jindal group whereas Saubhagya Media Ltd is owned by former MoS, Coal, DS Rao,’ the CBI sources said adding that ‘JSPL and GSIPL were the firms who were allotted Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block in Jharkhand while other three firms are being investigated for different reasons.’
Secondly, alleging that bribe money was directly paid, CBI sources said application for the allotment was moved in January 2007 and the block was allotted in January 2008. Subsequently, in December 2008, Saubhagya Media Ltd received investment of Rs 2.25 crores from Jindal’s company. Investigating officers said what raised suspicion during the probe was the inflated price in which Saubhagya’s shares were purchased. ‘The quoted price of Saubhagya Media Ltd was Rs 28 per share. However, Jindal group bought it for Rs 100 per share which clearly suggest the exchange of favours,’ the CBI sources said. A former Congress Rajya Sabha MP, Rao held the position of minister of state for Coal between 2004-06 and between 2006 and 2008.
CBI sources said they are also investigating the possibility of Rao influencing the screening committee members who were taking the decision. ‘Some members of the screening committee have also been booked in this FIR,’ the source added. The CBI is likely to question DS Rao for the second time this week whereas Jindal’s questioning has not been ruled out too.
CBI officials carried out searches at as many as 19 places in Delhi and Hyderabad including the 6-Prithviraj Road residence of Naveen Jindal.
Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson Prakash Javdekar termed the action of the agency too little too late and demanded that action should not be limited to searches alone.
The CBI had begun its inquiry in the scam in June last year after the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) recommended a thorough probe into the allocation of coal blocks between 2006 and 2009. The CAG report suggested a loss of 1.86 lakh crore to the exchequer due to arbitrary allocation of coal blocks. The CBI has been investigating 64 coal blocks that were allocated in those four years.