NEW DELHI: Congress leader and industrialist Naveen Jindal, former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda, ex -Minister of State for Coal Dasari Narayan Rao and seven others were today granted bail by a special court which asked them not to tamper with evidence or influence witnesses.
The court granted them the relief after they appeared before it and sought bail on the ground that they have joined the investigation and there was no apprehension that they would flee from justice.
Apart from Jindal, Rao and Koda, the court granted bail to former coal Secretary Harish Chandra Gupta and six others on furnishing of a personal bond of Rs one lakh each and a surety of like amount.
Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar directed the accused not to leave the country without the court’s prior permission and fixed the matter for June 1 for scrutiny of documents.
While granting bail, the court said undoubtedly the allegations against the accused persons were serious in nature and more so as they occupied high position in the society.
“However, at the same time it is also true that during the course of investigation, none of the accused persons were arrested by CBI and there has been no allegation that they did not join the investigation as and when called for,” it said.
“I, thus, without entering into any further details on merits or demerits of the case at this stage of the matter, deem it appropriate that the interest of justice will be suitably met if all the above 10 accused persons are released on bail…,” the judge said.
During the hearing, CBI vehemently opposed the bail pleas of Jindal and others saying the accused are high profile industrialists, politicians and public servants.
Senior Public Prosecutor V K Sharma said most of the prosecution witnesses were employees of various industries of the accused persons and there were chances of tampering with evidence. Also considering the seriousness of the allegations, the accused persons should not be released on bail, he said.
The accused were summoned by the court in the case pertaining to alleged irregularities in allocation of Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block in Jharkhand to two Jindal group firms, Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) and Gagan Sponge Iron Pvt Ltd (GSIPL).
Besides Jindal, Rao, Koda and Gupta, the other accused who were granted bail are Suresh Singhal, Director of New Delhi Exim Pvt Ltd, Rajeev Jain, Director of Jindal Realty Pvt Ltd, Girish Kumar Suneja and Radha Krishna Saraf, both Directors of Gagan Sponge Iron Pvt Ltd (GSIPL), K Ramakrishna Prasad, Managing Director of Sowbhagya Media Ltd and chartered accountant Gyan Swaroop Garg.
Besides these ten accused, the authorized representatives of five accused firms – JSPL, Jindal Realty Pvt Ltd, Gagan Infraenergy Ltd (formerly known as GSIPL), Sowbhagya Media Ltd and New Delhi Exim Pvt Ltd – also appeared before the court.
After the court’s hearing, JSPL, in a statement, said that “the court was informed there was no loss or gain to anyone as no exploration could be undertaken in the said coal block because of intense Naxal activities in that area.”
“The company has not violated any rules and regulations and allocation was made to the company purely on merit. The company has full faith in judiciary and is confident to come out clean and stand vindicated, upon outcome of the legal process, as there is no substantial case against any accused,” the statement said.
During the hearing, Jindal sought bail saying that after registration of FIR, he had cooperated with the CBI in the probe and also appeared in the court on the first date of hearing after being summoned as accused.
Senior advocate Ramesh Gupta, who appeared for Jindal, said all materials in the case were basically documentary in nature and records of the case are voluminous and there is no apprehension that he would not be available during trial.
“He is a permanent resident of Delhi and was not arrested during the investigation by the CBI. The court can impose whatever condition it deems fit while granting bail,” he said during the hearing in the jampacked court room.
Counsel for Rao and Prasad said the decision regarding final allocation of the coal block was taken by the then Coal Minister, who was the then the Prime Minister, and Rao had nothing to do with it.
“The decision regarding final allocation was taken by the Minister of Coal, who was the then Prime Minister. I (Rao) had nothing to do with it,” the counsel said, adding that some notes in the case were sent by the then Power Minister.
“Being the Minister of State for Coal, he only forwarded the notes. The decision was taken by the Prime Minister Office (PMO) not by Rao,” he said, adding that there was no evidence against Rao in the charge sheet. –PTI
