Coalgate scam: SC to hear Naveen Jindal's plea against charges made on him

New Delhi [India], Feb. 6 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Monday will hear the plea filed by industrialist Naveen Jindal against the charges made on him of criminal conspiracy in a case of inappropriate allocation of the Amarkonda coal block in Jharkhand. Jindal had refuted allegations of any involvement in the Amarkonda Murgandangal coal scam case in which he has been chargesheeted as an accused along with former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda and 13 others. Earlier on January 13, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had filed the final report against Jindal, former minister of state for coal Dasari Narayan Rao and others in connection with the coal scam case. Special Judge Bharat Parashar, however, took strong objection to the investigating officer not filing the report in a proper format and asked him to do so by January 23. The report filed before the court contains Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) reports, a list of witnesses and their statements recorded by the CBI. The court had earlier pulled up the CBI for the delay in filing the report, saying it was affecting the progress of the trial. The court had allowed the CBI's plea that it needed to probe the case further in light of certain disclosures made by chartered accountant Suresh Singhal, who had sought approval to turn approver. The court had also allowed Singhal's plea for pardon and ordered a deletion of his name from the list of the accused. The CBI had alleged that Koda, also accused in the case, had favoured Jindal group firms -- Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) and Gagan Sponge Iron Private Ltd (GSIPL) -- in the allocation of Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block in Jharkhand. Opposing the CBI's contention, all accused had earlier said that there was no evidence to show they were any conspiracy during the coal block allocation process. They had also denied the allegations levelled against them by the CBI in its chargesheet. (ANI)