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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | CBI names Congress MP, kin in Coalgate -Neeraj Chauhan

CBI names Congress MP, kin in Coalgate -Neeraj Chauhan

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published Published on Sep 5, 2012   modified Modified on Sep 5, 2012
-The Times of India

The probe into the mega-billion 'Coalgate' scam moved into a higher gear on Tuesday, with the Central Bureau of Investigation registering five FIRs into irregularities against five companies and several individuals, including a leading political family of Maharashtra.

Those named in the first set of FIRs include Congress member of Rajya Sabha Vijay Jawaharlal Darda, his brother and education minister of Maharashtra Rajendra J Darda and his son Devendra. They have been accused of criminal conspiracy, suppression and misrepresentation of facts and violation of Prevention of Corruption Act.

Apart from the Dardas, promoters of Nagpur-based Abhijeet group — Arvind Kumar Jayaswal, Manoj Jayaswal and Ramesh Jayaswal — have also been named in the FIRs. The group, which has clocked spectacular growth in recent years, was one of the biggest beneficiaries of controversial allocations of coal blocks.

The FIRs named three companies belonging to the Dardas -- AMR Iron and Steel (Nagpur), JLD Yavatmal Energy (Nagpur) and JAS Infrastructure Capital (Kolkata). The promoters of Navabharat Power, which has since become a subsidiary of Essar group, and Vini Iron and Steel Udyog, now controlled by an alleged aide of former Jharkhand CM Madhu Koda, figure in the remaining two FIRs.

The agency is likely to file at least six more FIRs shortly, and enlist the cooperation of the Enforcement Directorate as part of a widening probe into the alleged swindle which surpasses the 2G scam in scale, and has jammed Parliament for over two weeks, placing corruption prominently on the national frontburner.

CBI has also listed "unknown" government officials in the FIRs registered for cheating, criminal conspiracy and under many sections of Prevention of Corruption Act as preliminary investigations showed that some officials involved in the allocation process may have colluded with private players.

Tuesday saw CBI teams carrying out raids in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Patna, Kolkata, Nagpur, Dhanbad, Ranchi, Hyderabad, Bhilai, Yavatmal and Raipur among others. They recovered several documents related to the cases and questioned officials including directors of the accused companies.

The FIR against Navabharat Power accuses its original promoters, P Trivikrama Prasad and Y Harish Chandra Prasad, of fabricating facts to secure Rampia and Dipside Rampia coal blocks. The Prasad siblings later sold the company to Essar Power.

The fifth FIR features Vini Iron and Steel Udyog Limited, with the CBI accusing Sanjeev Kumar Tulsyan, Prashant Tulsyan and five other directors as well as the company's chartered accountant of making the false claim that they were part of a consortium. According to the FIR, the directors misrepresented facts in order to appear financially viable. Significantly, one of the directors, Vaibhav Tulsyan, told TOI that they had sold the company to Vijay Joshi, a close aide of former Jharkhand CM Madhu Koda, five months before the block was allocated.

The FIRs come when the confrontation between Congress and BJP looks set to intensify. Not surprisingly, CBI's action evoked contrary responses from the two antagonists. Congress responded by suggesting that the law was taking its own course and that the government would ensure that the guilty don't go unpunished.

"If anyone has resorted to such wrongdoing, then not only his coal block allocation will be cancelled but he will be in jail. I can guarantee you," coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal told reporters, as he shrugged aside suggestions of him being linked to the Jayaswals of Abhijeet group.

BJP saw the raids as a vindication of its agitation against Coalgate and harped on the fact that it was a complaint by its party MPs to the Central Vigilance Commission which set the stage for the CBI probe into the allocation of coal blocks. "CBI raids today are on the basis of our complaint to the CVC. This is just the beginning, but it proves that there have been wrongdoings in the coal block allocations," party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said.

"The cases have been registered on allegations related to getting coal blocks allocated on the basis of misrepresentations and false claims in the applications, presentations and connivance/lack of due diligence on part of public servants. Promoters of some of these companies have allegedly sold their stakes in an irregular manner after allocation of coal blocks," said CBI spokesperson Dharini Mishra.

CBI sources claimed that the Dardas withheld the fact that they already had coal blocks in order to get new ones.

According to Mishra, JAS Infrastructure, which was allocated Mahuagarhi coal block in Jharkhand, as well as JLD Yavatmal, which was allocated coal block in Fatehpur east in Chhattisgarh, misrepresented facts. The third Darda company under the scanner, AMR Iron and Steel which got Bander coal block in Chandrapur, Maharashtra, had also made wrong claims, she said.

The FIR against the original promoters of Navabharat Power said the accused persons misrepresented facts about other companies supporting their project in order to become eligible.

Interestingly, after coal blocks were allocated to Navabharat Power, the company was taken over by Essar group's Essar Power in 2010 "at very high rates", the CBI said.

In the case against Vini Iron and Steel Udyog Ltd, its directors — Sanjeev Kumar Tulsyan, Prashant Tulsyan, Vaibhav Tulsyan, Nisha Tulsyan, Vimal Kumar Tulsyan, Nirmala Tulsyan, Hemant Kumar Aggarwal — and chartered accountant of the company Navin Kumar were booked. The company had got Rajhara North coal block in Jharkhand.

The accused persons misrepresented facts about joint ventures and their net worth. "While applying for coal block, Vini officials made false claims that they had a tie-up with 15 companies and showed the firms' funds as theirs. We spoke to these 15 companies and nine out of these 15 informed that they never joined Vini Iron and Steel," said a CBI officer.

Subsequently, Vini's promoters reportedly sold the company to Vijay Joshi, a close aide of former Jharkhand CM Madhu Koda, five months before the coal blocks were allocated. Vaibhav Tulsyan told TOI, "We were the original applicants for this coal block but when Vijay Joshi approached us to buy the company, we sold it five months before the block was allocated. Why is CBI hounding us? They should go to people who run the company."


The Times of India, 5 September, 2012, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/CBI-names-Congress-MP-kin-in-Coalgate/articleshow/16256505.cms


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