Coal scam: Naveen, Rao, Koda and others to appear in court

Congress leader and industrialist Naveen Jindal, ex-Minister of State for Coal Dasari Narayan Rao, former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda and 12 others are likely to appear on Friday as accused before a special court in connection with a coal blocks allocation scam case.

Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar has also summoned former Coal Secretary Harish Chandra Gupta and some others, including five companies, as accused in a case of alleged irregularities in the allocation of Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block in Jharkhand.

In its charge sheet, CBI has alleged that Jindal had promised Congress support to the then "unstable" Madhu Koda government in Jharkhand in return for a recommendation for allocation of Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block to his group firms.

Koda, then an independent MLA, was <g data-gr-id="13">chief</g> minister of Jharkhand from September 14, 2006 to August 23, 2008 with the support of Congress, RJD and others.

While summoning the accused, the court had observed that Jindal had prima facie "manipulated" the entire government machinery to procure undue coal block allotment in Jharkhand.