In its first coal scam chargesheet filed in a city court, the CBI on Monday named Hyderabad-based Navbharat Power Private Ltd (NPPL) and its two directors -- P Trivikrama Prasad and Y Harish Prasad.
The investigative agency has chargesheeted NPPL and its directors under IPC Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating).
In a September 3, 2012 FIR, the CBI had alleged that NPPL and its directors along with unknown officials of the Ministry of Coal embellished their net worth by quoting the net worth of global giants without any legal basis.
The CBI alleged that no documents were submitted to the screening committee in 2007.
The committee had independently scrutinised the financial strength of all applicants with the help of financial experts from Coal India Limited.
It was further alleged that the ministry officials wilfully entered into a criminal conspiracy with the company and didn’t scrutinise the documents regarding NPPL’s false claims and concealment of facts.
The CBI had alleged that the officials ensured that the company got an undue advantage in the allocation of two coal blocks -- Rampia and ‘Dip Side’ of Rampia -- in Odisha.
The CBI also alleged that NPPL’s promoters and shareholders sold off the entire shareholdings to make huge profits.
The coal blocks were allocated jointly to six companies -- NPPL, Sterlite Energy Ltd, GMR Energy Ltd, Lanco group Ltd, Mittal Steel India Ltd and Reliance Energy Ltd.
The screening committee, while clearing the allocation files, had examined data furnished by the applicants and the feedback received from the state governments and the Ministry of Power.
The committee had assessed the techno-economic feasibility of the end-use project, track record in the execution of projects, financial and technical capabilities of the applicant companies and recommendations of state governments.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court pulled up the CBI over the delay in filing chargesheets in five of the six coal scam cases in which the investigation was already completed, and directed the investigative agency to file the chargesheets by March 28.