The coal block allocation scam is back to haunt the Congress. The Central Bureau of Investigation today registered fresh cases against two of the party’s senior leaders here.

In its latest FIR, the CBI named businessman-turned-Lok Sabha MP, Naveen Jindal, and former Minister of State for Coal, Dasari Narayana Rao, as accused in the multi-crore scam.

“The agency has registered a fresh case in the coal scam against Naveen Jindal and Jindal Steel & Power Ltd, Gagan Sponge and two other companies. Former MoS of Coal Dasari Rao has also been named,” a source told Business Line .

Jindal is a high-profile MP from Haryana. Rao was Minister of State for Coal when the blocks were allocated. The Prime Minister was in-charge of the Ministry then.

According to agencies, the CBI alleged Dasari Rao received Rs 2.25 crore, camouflaged as investment from one of Jindal’s firm within a year of allocating him a coal block.

BJP demand

The BJP has been demanding the Prime Minister’s resignation as the massive corruption occurred when he headed the Ministry.

There were reports that the Government denied permission to the CBI to question senior officers in the Prime Minister’s Office and the Coal Ministry at the time of the coal block allocation.

BJP MP Hansraj Ahir, who is a complainant in the Central Vigilance Commission case on the issue, said the Government is trying to scuttle the probe.

“The Comptroller and Auditor General has done its job. The CBI has also been doing its job. We are satisfied with it. But the Government is not acting. The Inter-Ministerial Group has stopped working. A number of files are yet to be provided to the CBI,” Ahir said.

The CBI has also conducted searches at 15 places in Delhi and Hyderabad. Searches were made at Jindal’s residence on Prithviraj Road and at his office at Jindal Centre. It is for the first time that the investigative agency has booked a Congress politician in the case. JSPL is a listed company and is India’s third-largest steelmaker by value.

The CBI has been investigating the case since June 2012, and 12 cases have been filed till now.

The investigative agency has booked these persons and companies under various sections of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act for alleged irregularities in allocation of the Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block in Jharkhand.

The Congress said the CBI is holding an independent probe. “Law will take its own course,” party spokesperson Raj Babbar said. In an e-mailed statement, the company said: “JSPL, as a law abiding company, is governed by a strong ethical code of conduct. This is an ongoing CBI investigation into coal block allocation. At this stage of the investigation, JSPL is committed to fully cooperating with the CBI.”

The Jindal Steel and Power stock crashed 15 per cent at Rs 226 today on the BSE.

Coal mines allotted to JSPL

Seven coal mines have been allocated to Naveen Jindal’s firm so far. The details are:

1996- Gare-Palma IV/1 at Hasdo e-Arand in Chhattisgarh with 124 million tonnes estimated reserves

1998- Gare-Palma IV/2 at Mand Raigarh in Chhattisgarh with 123 million tonnes estimated reserves

2003- Utkal B1 at Talcher in Odisha with 228.4 million tonnes estimated reserves

2006- Gare-Palma IV/6 at Mand Raigarh in Chhattisgarh with 156 million tonnes estimated reserves

2008- Amarkonda Murgadangal at Birbhum in Jharkhand with 205 million tonnes estimates reserves.

2009- Ramchandi promotion block at Talcher in Odisha with 1500 million tonnes of estimates reserves.

2009- Urtan North in Sohagpur at Madhya Pradesh with 46.55 million tonnes of estimated reserves

siddhartha.s@thehindu.co.in

naga.gunturi@thehindu.co.in

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