CBI asks how an accused in coal scam case got passport

An accused in a coal scam case was on Monday caught in a tricky situation in a special court when the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) objected to his plea seeking nod to travel abroad, asking how he had got a passport issued without intimating the authorities about the criminal case pending against him.

As soon as application of accused Gyan Swaroop Garg, <g data-gr-id="15">chargesheeted</g> by CBI along with former MP Naveen Jindal and 13 others, came up for hearing, senior public prosecutor VK Sharma said he should first explain how the passport was issued to him after he was summoned as accused.

Sharma told Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar that for the renewal or issuance of <g data-gr-id="26">fresh</g> passport, a declaration is required to be furnished if any criminal case is pending against the applicant. “As <g data-gr-id="25">trial</g> is pending against the accused (Garg), how was the passport obtained by him without the court's permission. This is a serious issue. He is facing trial and has obtained a passport without giving the affidavit,” Sharma said. 

When the court asked Garg about it, he said the passport was issued to him from Kolkata. He, however, said he had submitted the documents for the passport to a travel <g data-gr-id="21">agent,</g> but had not signed any such affidavit. His advocate told the court that the passport issued to his client was not forged. 

The judge said: “I will allow your plea to go abroad on a condition that you file an affidavit in the court that you have not obtained the passport by making any false averments.”