Coal scam: CBI to file status report in apex court today

CBI will be submitting a status report tomorrow informing Supreme Court about the progress made in the coal scam probe and on filing charge sheet in one of the cases registered by the probe agency in 2012.

Sources in the investigating agency said that a charge sheet was likely to be filed tomorrow before a designated court and the Supreme Court would be apprised about it.

The Supreme Court had asked CBI, during the last hearing on February 11, to submit a status report about filing of charge sheet in six of the cases finalised by the agency.

CBI has filed over 16 FIRs which included those against AMR Iron and Steel, JLD Yavatmal Energy, Vini Iron and Steel Udyog, JAS Infrastructure Capital Pvt Ltd, Grace Industries, Jindal Steel and Power, Rathi Steel and Power Ltd, Jharkhand Ispat, Green Infrastructure, Kamal Sponge, Pushp Steel, Hindalco, BLA Industries, Castron Technologies and Castron Mining and Nav Bharat Power Private Limited.

These FIRs were registered after the agency probed three preliminary enquiries related to coal block allocation between 2006 and 2009, 1993 and 2004 and projects given under a government scheme.

CBI may also inform the apex court about the permission sought from nine states which were reluctant in allowing the agency to conduct probe in their jurisdiction.

CBI had been directed to file charge sheet in all the cases finalised by it by first week of March but the agency had moved a petition on March four seeking more time to file the charge sheet in the cases.

"The CBI is strenuously making efforts to meet the deadline fixed by the court. Inquiry or investigation in all three PEs and arising out of 14 cases are being attended to simultaneously. In the process, reaching a logical conclusion is taking its due time," the agency had said.

"For these reasons, forming an opinion in terms of Section 173(2) of Criminal Procedure Code (filing of charge sheet) on the basis of scrutiny of evidence collected in six completed RCs and preparation of final report would take some more time for submission before the appropriate trial court," CBI had said in its plea before the apex court.

In its earlier status report before the Supreme court, CBI had said inquiries in respect of 87 companies had been finalised besides probe in respect of 38 companies had been concluded.

It was stated that reports were in the process of scrutiny for getting final order from the competent authority.

CBI had informed the court that field inquiries pertaining to 149 out of 169 companies had been completed and similar probe pertaining to the remaining 20 companies, including ultra mega power projects (UMPPs) and coal to liquid (CTL), was in progress.

CBI had informed the court that inquires and investigation in other PEs and all RCs would be completed by April 30.

Given the dimension and spread of the scam, the court had ordered CBI and Enforcement Directorate to "share information with each other in respect of the matters having bearing on investigation of money laundering and foreign exchange and ensure that the investigation is not hampered in any manner whatsoever".

According to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), an estimated loss of Rs 1.86 lakh crores was caused to the national exchequer in the coal block allocation scam.