The CBI on Friday filed a charge sheet against former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda and two of his aides for allegedly receiving Rs. 13 crore as bribe for showing favour and recommending allotment of land to a private company for mining iron ore.
The charge sheet was filed against Mr. Koda and his two aides Binod Sinha and Sanjay Chaudhary in the court of a special judge here under 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
According to a release issued by the CBI spokesman, the investigation showed that the former Chief Minister had shown favour to a company by obtaining illegal gratification to the tune of Rs. 13 crores in the matter of recommending it for allotment of land for mining iron ore.
The former Chief Minister of Jharkhand and Mr. Sinha are presently in judicial custody while Mr. Chaudhary is absconding, the spokesman said.
“Investigation on other aspects of the FIR is continuing”, he said.
The CBI had carried out searches in Ranchi in connection with the multi-crore scam involving Mr. Koda following questioning of Mr. Sinha. He was arrested by the CBI on September 16 this year.
Mr. Sinha was wanted by vigilance and enforcement agencies in a hawala case involving Mr. Koda, two State ministers — Enos Ekka and Harinarain Rai — and others. He had been evading arrest since February 2007, a CBI official said.
Jharkhand Vigilance Bureau had registered an FIR on July 2, 2009, in a case of disproportionate assets involving Mr. Koda and some former State ministers.
The case was later transferred to the CBI by the Jharkhand High Court and, accordingly, a case was registered on August 11, 2010, alleging that Mr. Sinha earned crores of rupees by engineering allotment of mining leases to his own companies or his associates for commission during the regime of Mr. Koda, the official said.
The CBI had alleged that the accused had acquired large number of properties and companies, within and outside the country out of this ill-gotten wealth. Mr. Sinha has been charged by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) with investing money on behalf of Mr. Koda in India and some Middle-East countries.
The State high court had given directions on a PIL filed by social activist Durga Oraon who sought a CBI probe into the disproportionate assets allegedly owned by Mr. Koda and his former cabinet colleagues.
The ED and the Income Tax Department are separately investigating allegations of illegal investment and hawala transactions against Mr. Koda and others. A Lok Sabha MP from Chaibasa, Mr. Koda was arrested by State vigilance bureau in November last year and is lodged in a jail in Ranchi.
