Political support to ex-CM, bribe to MoS to swing deal

In a major setback to industrialist and former Congress MP Naveen Jindal, a special court in Delhi on Wednesday summoned him as an accused in Jharkhand’s Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block allocation case. The court also summoned former Minister of State for Coal Dasari Narayan Rao and ex-Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda as an accused in the case.

The court has asked all the accused to appear before it on May 22. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has named all of them as accused in its charge-sheet. The agency claimed that there were irregularities in the allocation of coal block to Jindal Steel.

The charge-sheet, which named 15 accused, included 10 individuals and five firms — Jindal Steel and Power Limited, Jindal Realty Private Limited, Gagan Sponge Iron Private Limited (also a Jindal firm), New Delhi Exim Private Limited (again a Jindal firm) and Sowbhagya Media Limited. 

In its charge-sheet, the CBI has claimed that Jindal had “conspired” with Koda and promised to help him in completing his term as the Chief Minister in return for allocation of the coal block 

in Jharkhand. 

Koda, an Independent MLA, was the Chief Minister of Jharkhand from September 14, 2006, to August 23, 2008, with the support of the Congress, RJD and others. Special CBI judge Bharat Parashar, while taking cognisance of the charge-sheet and summoning as accused Jindal, Rao and 13 others, said prima facie a criminal conspiracy was there between private parties and public servants involved in the entire coal block allocation process. 

“The clandestine manner in which Rs 2 crore stood transferred in favour of M/s Sowbhagya Media Ltd, a company controlled by Dasari Narayan Rao, from M/s Jindal Realty Pvt Ltd, a Jindal group company, further prima facie shows the existence of a well-planned criminal conspiracy between the private parties and the public servants involved in the entire coal block allocation process,” the judge said.

The CBI in its charge-sheet has alleged that Jindal paid Rs 2 crore to Rao for showing “undue favour” to him in allocation of Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block in Jharkhand to two Jindal group firms.