SC declines to stay CBI investigation into PMO officials' involvement in coal scam case

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to stay the investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the alleged involvement of some PMO officials in the coal scam case against Jindal Steel. The case was registered against JSW Ispat Steel Limited, then Nippon Denro Ispat Limited (NDIL), and some unknown public servants. The CBI had on January 5 registered another case in the coal block allocation scam, which took place during 1993 and 2005.

According to FIR, the Ministry of Coal at the time had allocated the coal block to NDIL, which was not in line with the notification issued for the coal block to be allocated to private companies. The CBI said that the Coal Ministry had issued a notification that allowed a company to have two subsidiary companies, with one running a power plant and the other for mining coal exclusively for the plant.

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However, the arrangement resulted in the coal block to be run by the Central India Power Company Limited (CIPCO), a company set up by the Ispat Group, with another company -- Central India Coal Company Limited (CICCL) -- would be mining the coal, while the Ispat Urja Limited owned 26 per cent equity capital in both the firms. The CBI further alleged the NDIL was allocated the Khiloni Block even after several screening committees agreed not to put it up for allocation. The NDIL FIR pertains to the blocks allocated to it from 1996 to 1998. The preliminary enquiry in the case covered the allocation of 24 coal blocks during the period of 1996-2005. The preliminary enquiry was started in 2012 based on a complaint by seven MPs including Sandeep Dikshit, which was converted into an FIR on December 31, 2019.

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(with ANI inputs)