NEW DELHI, Feb 12: A special court today granted bail to Gondwana Ispat Ltd’s (GIL) Director Ashok Daga, accused in a coal scam case pertaining to alleged irregularities in the allocation of a Maharashtra coal block to the firm.
Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar granted the relief to Daga, who appeared before the court in pursuance to summons issued against him, on a personal bond of Rs one lakh with one surety of the like amount.
Daga’s counsel moved the bail plea before the court and said his client had cooperated with CBI during the probe and there was no need to remand him in judicial custody as he was not arrested by the agency.
However, no authorised representative of the accused firm GIL appeared before the court today, after which the judge issued fresh summons against the company.
“Fresh summons be issued to the accused company GIL and the same be served through the investigating officer on Delhi address and corporate office at Maharashtra. Copy of summons be pasted on the office of the company and its photograph be filed in the court,” the judge noted in his order and fixed the case for further hearing on February 23.
The court had earlier summoned GIL and Daga as accused in the case for allegedly misrepresenting facts to get the Majra coal block allocated to it in 2003. An FIR was lodged in the matter in 2014.
The court had summoned them for the alleged offences of criminal conspiracy and cheating under the IPC.
CBI has alleged in the charge sheet that during the probe, it was found that Daga had made “unsubstantiated claim even towards financial preparedness and tie-up regarding iron ore with Odisha government”.
It has alleged that as the Ministry of Coal (MOC) then was not following any system of checking falsity of information provided by an applicant firm, M/S GIL and Daga in furtherance of a criminal conspiracy misrepresented to various government authorities and induced them to reserve or allocate Majra coal block in their favour.
CBI has claimed that during probe, it was found that though after allocation of the coal block in 2003, Daga had filed an undertaking to MOC that he will install the plant or carry out its extension and develop the coal mine, he sold off the company to Nand Kishore Sarda while earning huge profit in October 2005. (PTI)
Follow our WhatsApp channel