Court to pronounce verdict on Dec 13 in coal case agst Koda

New Delhi: A special court will pronounce on December 13 its verdict in a coal scam case against former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda, ex-Coal Secretary H C Gupta and others.

Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar has directed all the accused to remain present before court on the date of judgement in the case pertaining to alleged irregularities in allocation of Rajhara North coal block in Jharkhand to Kolkata-based Vini Iron and Steel Udyog Ltd (VISUL).

Besides Koda, Gupta and the firm, the other accused in the case include ex-Jharkhand Chief Secretary A K Basu, two public servants -- Basant Kumar Bhattacharya and Bipin Bihari Singh, VISUL's Director Vaibhav Tulsyan, Koda's alleged close aide Vijay Joshi and chartered accountant Navin Kumar Tulsyan.

The eight accused persons were earlier granted bail by the court after they had appeared before it in pursuance to the summons issued against them.

They were summoned as accused after the court took cognisance of alleged offences under sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) read with 420 (cheating) and 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servants) of IPC and under provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act.

During arguments, the CBI alleged that the firm had applied for allocation of Rajhara North coal block on January 8, 2007.

It said although the Jharkhand government and Steel Ministry did not recommend VISUL's case for coal block allocation, the 36th Screening Committee recommended the block to the accused firm.
The CBI said that Gupta, who was chairman of the screening committee, had allegedly concealed facts from then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who then headed the Coal Ministry too, that Jharkhand had not recommended VISUL for allocation of a coal block.
Koda, Basu and two accused public servants conspired to favour VISUL in the coal block allocation, the agency added.
The accused have refuted the allegations levelled against them.