The Delhi High Court on Tuesday stayed the three-year jail term awarded to former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda in a coal scam case and granted him interim bail till the next date of hearing on January 22.
Justice Anu Malhotra also put on hold the order of a trial court here imposing a fine of ₹25 lakh on Mr. Koda. The High Court sought the response of the CBI on his appeal challenging the conviction and sentence.
Mr. Koda was held guilty of corruption and conspiracy in the allocation of a Jharkhand-based coal block to Kolkata-based company Vini Iron and Steel Udyog Ltd (VISUL). He challenged the December 13 and 16, 2017 orders of conviction and sentence respectively.
In his appeal, Mr. Koda said the trial court order holding him guilty was bad in law.
The CBI opposed his appeal but did not oppose the interim bail granted to him till January 22.
Mr. Koda, ex-coal secretary H.C. Gupta, A.K Basu, former Jharkhand Chief Secretary, and his close aide Vijay Joshi were awarded jail terms of three years for indulging in corrupt practices and hatching a criminal conspiracy in the allocation of Rajhara North coal block in Jharkhand to the Kolkata-based company.
While sentencing the convicts, the special CBI court had said “white collar crimes” were more dangerous to society than ordinary crimes.
UPA-era scam
It had imposed fines of ₹50 lakh, ₹25 lakh and ₹1 lakh on VISUL, Mr. Koda and Mr. Gupta respectively in the UPA-era coal scam. ₹1 lakh fine was also imposed on Mr. Basu.
The High Court had on December 22, 2017 stayed a trial court order imposing fine of ₹50 lakh on VISUL.
