Coal block allocation scam: CBI seeks Jharkhand govt sanction to prosecute Madhu Koda in Parbatpur case

Koda has already been convicted for corruption in the allocation of Rajhara North coal block.

The CBI has sought from the Jharkhand government sanction to prosecute former chief minister Madhu Koda and ex-mines secretary Jai Shankar Tiwari in connection with the infamous scam related to the allocation of Parbatpur coal block to Electrosteel Castings, officials said on Tuesday. The agency will file its charge sheet against Koda, Tiwari and others after getting the sanction from the Hemant Soren-led Jharkhand government, they said.

Koda has already been convicted for corruption in the allocation of Rajhara North coal block. A trial court in 2017 held him guilty of corruption and conspiracy in the allocation of the coal block in Jharkhand to Kolkata-based company Vini Iron and Steel Udyog Ltd (VISUL).

The CBI has almost concluded its probe in the allocation of Parbatpur coal block to Electrosteel Castings for their proposed pig iron plants at Khardah in West Bengal and Kalahasti in Andhra Pradesh. The Odisha-based Electrosteel allegedly acquired about 48.5 per cent shares of an Andhra Pradesh-based private company and the allocation was made for a plant of the latter which never independently applied for a coal block.

The CBI has alleged that Electrosteel resorted to the sale of 50,162.42 metric tonnes of middlings dishonestly to another private company based at Jharkhand and the company disposed of 42,500 metric tonnes of inferior ungraded coal, jhama and slurry to the non-approved end users.