A special court has reserved for July 31 orders on framing of charges against a private firm, its two directors and another person in a case of alleged irregularities in the allocation of the Dhadhu coal block in Jharkhand.
The CBI is prosecuting Pawanjay Steel and Power Limited (PSPL), its two directors, Gyanchand Prasad Agarwal and Umesh Prasad Agarwal, and S.K. Kanungo, chief manager (Marketing) of Hari Machines Ltd (HML) in the case.
The court reserved the order on conclusion of arguments by counsel for the accused and the prosecution.
The court had on September 28 last year summoned them for criminal conspiracy and cheating, saying “prima facie there were sufficient incriminating evidence on record against them.”
They had been later granted bail after they appeared before the court on November 9 in pursuance to a summons.
The CBI had registered a case of cheating and criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act against PSPL, its directors, Mr. Kanungo and other unknown persons, including public servants.
Criminal conspiracy
PSPL and its two directors along with Mr. Kanungo hatched a criminal conspiracy with a view to deceive the Ministry of Coal (MoC) to induce it to allocate a captive coal block in favour of the accused firm, the charge sheet said.