JOIN USThe CBI on Sunday registered a second case against Jindal Steel and Power Ltd for irregularities in procuring coal blocks, taking the number of FIRs in the coal scam to 36.
As a result of the preliminary inquiry initiated in September last year to look into allocations between 1993 and 2005, a fresh case was filed pertaining to the Gare Palma IV/1 coal block given to the company for a sponge iron plant.
The CBI alleged that Jindal Steel and Power Ltd entered an irregular mining lease and crossed the coordinates stipulated by the Coal Ministry. “The company resorted to excess mining, irregular regularisation of area beyond coordinates, sale of raw coal, sale of coal fines and middling to other than specified end users, irregular permission for consumption of coal in expansion of kilns and other related allegations,” a CBI statement said.
After registering the case, searches were conducted at four locations in Raigarh in Chhattisgarh, leading to the recovery of several incriminating documents.
The case was registered under Indian Penal Code Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating) and relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The CBI had earlier registered a case against Jindal Steel and Power Ltd for alleged cheating and misrepresentation of facts in acquiring the Amarkonda Murgadangal block in the Birbhum region of Jharkhand in 2008.