Rajhara coal block allocation
Agencies, New Delhi
Delhi High Court on Tuesday stayed a CBI special judge order for three-year imprisonment to former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda in a coal scam case.
Justice Anu Malhotra also stayed the order of the Special Judge imposing a fine of Rs 25 lakh on Koda and granted him interim bail till the next date of hearing later this month with a direction that not to leave the country without permission of the court.
Setting the next hearing for January 22, 2018, Justice Malhotra sought the response of the CBI on the appeal of Koda and the others arraigned.Koda, former Coal Secretary HC Gupta, the then Jharkhand Chief Secretary AK Basu and others allegedly through corrupt practices hatched a criminal conspiracy for the allocation of Rajhara North coal block in Jharkhand to a Kolkata-based company.
They were sentenced to three-year jail terms by CBI Special Judge Bharat Parashar.
Koda had challenged the order passed by the Special Judge on 13th and 16th December, 2017 in which conviction and sentence were passed.The Special Judge granted statutory bail for a period of two months to all the convicts to enable them to file appeals in the Delhi High Court.
Koda submitted that the order of the Special Judge was bad in law and filed a plea seeking suspension of sentence and regular bail till pendency of his appeal before the High Court. Central Bureau of Investigation did not oppose the plea for interim bail to Koda and others.
