Coal scam: Navabharat Power Ltd faces additional charges

New Delhi: A special court today transferred CBI’s chargesheet filed against Navabharat Power Pvt Ltd and its two directors in the coal blocks allocation scam case to a magisterial court on the ground that no charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act were slapped against them. The chargesheet against Navabharat Power Pvt Ltd and its two directors P Trivikrama Prasad and Y Harish Chandra Prasad was filed before Special CBI Judge Madhu Jain who transferred the matter to the court of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate. [caption id=“attachment_1322897” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational Image. Reuters[/caption] The matter would be listed before the magisterial court on 6 May. During the proceedings, the court also fixed 7 July for considering the closure report filed by CBI against Kamal Sponge Steel and Power Ltd and its directors in connection with the coal blocks allocation scam case. CBI had filed the closure report in the case saying it had not found sufficient evidence against the firm and its directors to proceed with the case. The firm and its directors, Pavan Ahluwalia, Kamaljeet Ahluwalia, Prashant Ahluwalia, its senior official Amit Goyal and some unnamed public servants were arraigned as accused in the FIR lodged by CBI, the sources had said. They were named as accused in the FIR for allegedly misrepresenting facts, including inflated net worth, to acquire coal blocks. CBI had claimed officials of the firm had furnished unaudited balance sheet and the company allegedly inflated its capacity to produce sponge iron by 25 percent. According to CBI, two directors of Navabharat Power Pvt Ltd and the firm were chargesheeted for offences under Sections 420 (cheating) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC. They were arraigned as accused for allegedly conspiring and cheating by purportedly misrepresenting facts to “embellish” its applications to get allotments between 2006 and 2009. CBI had said in its 32-page final report that the probe against unnamed public servants in the case was going on and they may file a supplementary charge sheet soon. CBI had in its FIR filed on 3 September, 2012, named Navabharat Power Pvt Ltd, its two directors along with some unidentified public servants of the Ministry of Coal and others in the case. The FIR was lodged after a preliminary enquiry was initiated by CBI on a reference by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC). In the FIR, CBI had also accused unnamed officials of the Coal Ministry of entering into conspiracy and “willfully” not scrutinising documents to allow “undue advantage” for the company in getting the blocks. CBI had said that after allocation of coal blocks, the promoters and shareholders of Navabharat Power Pvt Ltd sold their entire shareholdings in July 2010 to Essar Power Ltd and its subsidiary company at a “huge profit of over Rs 200 crores.” “Enquiry also revealed that officials of the Ministry of Coal in pursuance of criminal conspiracy, willfully and purposefully did not scrutinise the aforesaid documents regarding false claims/concealment of facts by Navabharat Power Pvt Ltd and thus facilitated the company in getting undue advantage in allocation of Rampia and Dip Side of Rampia Coal Blocks,” CBI had said in its FIR. PTI