A Special CBI court on Monday convicted the Managing Director of Nagpur-based Abhijeet Infrastructure Ltd, Manoj Kumar Jayaswal and its former director Ramesh Kumar Jayaswal in a coal scam case related to the allocation of Brinda, Sisai and Meral coal blocks in Jharkhand.

Special Judge Arun Bhardwaj convicted the trio on charges of cheating, criminal conspiracy and using forged documents as genuine. Their sentence will be pronounced later.

The CBI had registered a case on January 6, 2016, under Sections 120-B, read with 420, of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections 13(2) read with 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 against Abhijeet Infrastructure Pvt Ltd (now Abhijeet Infrastructure Ltd) through its directors, unknown public servants and private persons.

It was alleged that Abhijeet Infrastructure , in conspiracy with public servants, fraudulently and dishonestly obtained the Brinda, Sisai and Meral coal blocks by misrepresenting its financial position, acquisition of land for its proposed end-use plant and other related claims.

During the investigation it was revealed that the company had submitted photocopies of the forged and fabricated documents concerning purchase of private land at Hazaribagh, Jharkhand, procurement of machinery for the proposed end-use plant and financial tie-ups with banks, the CBI said.

These forged documents,, were used to secure the recommendation of the Union Ministry of Steel for the allocation of the coal blocks, the agency noted.

Based on this recommendation, the Ministry of Coal allocated the Brinda, Sisai and Meral coal blocks to Abhijeet Infrastructure on June 25, 2005.

Published on December 9, 2024