A special CBI court on Tuesday ordered framing of charges against former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda, former Jharkhand Chief Secretary Ashok Kumar Basu and former Coal Secretary H.C. Gupta as well as six others. They will >face trial on charges of corruption, criminal conspiracy and cheating.
This particular case is related to the alleged irregularities in allocation of Rajhara North coal block in Jharkhand to Kolkata-based Vini Iron and Steel Udyog Ltd (VISUL).
The court of Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar ordered the formal framing of charges.
The accused in this case were earlier granted bail. They were summoned as accused after the court took cognisance of alleged offences under sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) read with 420 (cheating) and 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servants) of IPC and under provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act.
The CBI has accused Mr. Gupta of concealing facts from former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that Jharkhand had not recommended VISUL for allocation of a coal block.
Mr. Koda, Mr. Basu and two other public servants >were accused of conspiring to favour VISUL in the coal block allocation despite the fact that state government had recommended two other firms for it.
Earlier Mr. Gupta had blamed the former Prime Minister of approving the allocation, stating that the final decision to allocate the blocks rested with him.
