Coal scam: Argument on Koda’s plea to summon ex-PM today

SPP RS Cheema appeared before Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar and said due to some “personal difficulty”, he would not be able to argue on the plea on Thursday and the matter be deferred to Friday. The CBI is also scheduled to argue on Friday on a plea filed by ex-Coal Secretary HC Gupta, seeking dropping of proceedings against him on account of lack of sanction to prosecute him for the alleged offences in the case.

“RS Cheema has submitted that due to some personal difficulty, he won’t be able to address arguments today in the afternoon.... Matter be now put up for tomorrow for <g data-gr-id="26">reply</g> by CBI,” the court noted. 

Koda’s counsel had on Wednesday argued in the court that then PM was “aware of everything” in the process of allocating a coal block to Naveen Jindal’s firm and if there was any conspiracy to allocate the Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block in Jharkhand, it could not have been without Singh’s knowledge, who was also the Coal Minister.

Koda has sought to summon Singh as an additional accused, along with Anand Swaroop, the then Secretary (Energy), and Jai Shankar Tiwari, then Secretary(Mines and Geology), alleging that CBI's theory of conspiracy remains incomplete without the involvement of the then Prime Minister.

The case pertains to alleged irregularities in allocation of Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block to two Jindal group firms Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) and Gagan Sponge Iron Pvt Ltd (GSIPL). Koda, Gupta, former MP and industrialist Naveen Jindal and 13 others were earlier <g data-gr-id="23">chargesheeted</g> by the CBI in the case.