The charges will formally be framed on August 16, said the Special Judge Bharat Parashar. (File Photo)
A special court in Delhi on Friday ordered framing of an additional charge of abetment of bribery against industrialist and former Congress parliamentarian Naveen Jindal and others in a case pertaining to allocation of the Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block in Jharkhand.
Earlier in April 2016, the special court had ordered framing of charges against Naveen Jindal, former MoS for Coal Dasari Narayan Rao (deceased), former coal secretary H C Gupta, former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda and 11 others on charges for various offences, including criminal conspiracy, cheating, criminal breach of trust under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and some sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act. However, the charge of bribery (punishable under section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act) was not framed then.
During Friday’s proceedings, the special court observed that though the charge of bribery is made out against Dasari Narayan Rao, the charge will not be framed against him as he is not alive. Three others– Jindal Steel’s then adviser Anand Goel, Nihar Stocks Ltd Director BSN Suryanarayan and Mumbai’s Essar Power Ltd Executive Vice-Chairman Sushil Kumar Maroo have also been named in the additional chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case. The three face charges of criminal conspiracy under Section 120B of the IPC.
The charges will formally be framed on August 16, said the Special Judge Bharat Parashar.
The CBI had in January 2018 told the special court that the charge of bribery be also framed against Naveen Jindal and other accused in the coal scam case.