NEW DELHI: A special CBI court on Friday ordered framing of charges against industrialist and Congress leader Naveen Jindal and 14 others for hatching a criminal conspiracy in Jharkhand’s Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block allocation scam.
Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar said, “The aforesaid discussion of the overall facts and circumstances prima facie show the nature of overt and covert acts on the part of accused, Naveen Jindal in the entire criminal conspiracy.”
The court also said that a facade of companies was prima facie created as a smokescreen to cover up the illegal act of paying off Rs 2 crore to former MoS for Coal Dasari Narayana Rao by Jindal in lieu of favouring his two firms by securing allocation of a coal block in 2008. “In fact, his role has come out to be that of a central figure around whom the entire criminal conspiracy revolved,” the judge said in the 136-page order.
The court made the observations while ordering framing of charges against Jindal, Rao, former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda and 12 others for the alleged offences of criminal conspiracy, cheating, criminal breach of trust under the IPC and sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act in the case. The court termed Jindal’s role as the common central thread running through all the said transactions through his various group or associated companies and felt it became evident at least for a prima facie view.