Coal scam: Court pulls up CBI for trying to segregate cases

New Delhi: A special court today pulled up the CBI for trying to segregate one of the cases arising out of the coal block allocation scam to keep it away from being tried by it and seeking its transfer to a regular court.

The court was anguished that the CBI, which itself had got the case transferred to it from the regular court by citing a Supreme Court order, was seeking re-transfer of the case against two government officials on the ground that it was different from those being monitored by the apex court.

Special Judge Bharat Parashar said it was “strange” that despite relying on the Supreme Court’s July 25 order on setting up of Special Court for coalgate, the CBI prosecutor and the investigating officer (IO) have not gone through it and were making distinction between the cases probed by its two wings–anti-corruption unit and economic offences wing.

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The CBI, during the proceedings, later withdrew its application for transfer of the case from the Special Court to the regular court.

The judge expressed his displeasure that the CBI sought to make its own categorisation of the cases without consulting the apex-court appointed Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) R S Cheema, who has been authorised to examine documentsrelating to the scam.

“Have you (prosecutor) gone through the Supreme Court’s order of July 25….The CBI is relying on the Supreme Court’s order but you are saying you have not gone through the order of the Supreme Court. This is strange,” the judge observed andadded that “You (CBI) are not preferring to talk to SPP appointed by the Supreme Court. The CBI has to take a stand.”

The remarks were made by the Special Judge as both the prosecutor and the IO replied in the negative to his question whether they have gone through the apex court order.

However, at this juncture, the court granted time to the prosecutor to explain about charges framed against two public servants, who are accused in the case in which the Delhi High Court had recently quashed charges against Chhattisgarh-basedPrakash Industries Ltd and its director.

When the hearing resumed after two hours, the agency’s prosecutor told the court that he has now gone through the apex court’s order and he was convinced that only the Special Court will deal with all the coal blocks allocation cases.

“I have gone through the Supreme Court’s order. In view of the observations of the Supreme Court, I am convinced that this court should deal with the matters and I am withdrawing my application,” the prosecutor said after which the court allowed his submissions to withdraw the plea.

During today’s hearing in the case, in which charges were framed against Prakash Industries Ltd, its Director (Corporate Affairs) A K Chaturvedi, Executive Secretary Goutam Kumar Basak and Manager (F&A) Soumen Chatterjee of the Ministry of Steel’s Joint Plant Committee, the special court discharged the firm and its director in view of the Delhi High Court’s order quashing the charges.

“Counsel Vijay Aggarwal (representing the company and its director) has submitted the certified copy of order dated September 5 passed by the High Court wherein accused A K Chaturvedi and Prakash Industries Ltd have been discharged as charges framed against them by trial court have been quashed.

“Public prosecutor also admitted that such an order has been passed by the High Court. Accordingly, in view of the order of Delhi High Court, accused A K Chaturvedi and Prakash Industries Ltd stand discharged,” the judge said.

However, the CBI prosecutor told the court that as per the order of the High Court, now charges of 120-B (criminal conspiracy) under the IPC read with provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act remain on the other two accusedwho will now face the trial.

The agency also informed the court that the CBI was in the process of preferring an appeal against the order of the High Court.

However, after hearing the arguments, the judge posted the matter for October 20, saying that it would hear SPP Cheema on this aspect.

“I have heard senior PP V K Sharma. He states that as SPP R S Cheema is not available today so further arguments/ clarifications may be taken on the next date when Mr Cheema will be present. Put up for October 20,” the judge said.

The CBI had earlier told the court that it required time to examine as to which of the alleged offences against the two remaining accused, who were public servants, should sustain and what evidence was to be led now in view of the High Court’s order.

The High Court on September 5 had quashed the charges of cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy framed against Prakash Industries Ltd (PIL) and its director.

The trial court had earlier framed charges of cheating, forgery and corruption against Goutam Kumar Basak and Soumen Chatterjee for allegedly giving a misleading report on the production capacity of PIL.

The Ministry of Steel’s Joint Plant Committee was set up in 1964 by the government for formulating guidelines for production, allocation and pricing of iron and steel and is the only institution which is officially empowered by the Ministry of Steel to collect data on iron and steel industry.

According to the CBI, on the basis of alleged inflated production figures and “bogus reports” submitted by PIL, Basak and Chatterjee, the screening committee allotted the captive coal block at Urtan in Madhya Pradesh and at Vijay Central inChhattisgarh to PIL.

In its charge sheet, the CBI had said that PIL in connivance with Hind Energy and Coal Benefication (India) Pvt Ltd and various officials of the Ministry of Coal, Ministry of Steel and the JPC, got allocated the coal blocks “using false and fabricated documents”.

It had told the court that on an application by PIL in January 1998, Chotia coal mining block at Chhattisgarh too was allotted to it.

The agency had alleged that PIL, through its April 12,2007 application, again applied for allotment of mining block for its steel plant at Champa in Chhattisgarh for expansion of its capacity, and to justify its claim, it filedfalse and fabricated copies of central excise returns showing inflated production figures from December 2007 to March 2008.

The CBI’s charge sheet had alleged that PIL had mined coal from Chotia mining block in excess and diverted approximately 50 per cent of it to the black market and earned a profit of about Rs 22.7 crore.

PTI