Former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda, ex-Jharkhand chief secretary Ashok Kumar Basu and six others have been chargesheeted by the Central Bureau of Investigation in a coal block allocation scam case.
Special court was that Manmohan Singh took the "ultimate decision" as the then coal minister in allocation of the blocks.
The companies are crying foul over the cancellation of 25 blocks held by 68 firms over the past two days.
For months, the 2024 Ballon d'Or seemed to have a clear front-runner, with everyone anticipating the coronation of Vinícius Júnior as the new king of football.
The Central Bureau of Investigation will be filing a fresh case in connection with alleged irregularities in connection with allocation of coal blocks by the end of this month in which it may name a corporate and certain former officials of the Union coal ministry.
Besides the jail term, the special court also imposed a fine of Rs 25 lakh on Koda and Rs one lakh on Gupta.
Koda, Basu and two accused public servants conspired to favour VISUL in the coal block allocation, the agency alleged.
The Central Bureau of Investigation is likely to file its status report in the coal scam before the Supreme Court on Tuesday stating details of its 14th FIR against Hindalco and others and also progress in the remaining 13 cases.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has questioned T K A Nair, advisor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in connection with alleged irregularities in allocation of coal blocks, which included granting of a block to Hindalco at Talabira despite it being rejected by a screening committee of the coal ministry.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has found no criminality in the allocation of about 60 coal blocks, which are likely to be taken out of the purview of its ongoing probe after taking the Supreme Court's permission.
Former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda, ex-Coal Secretary H C Gupta, former Jharkhand chief secretary Ashok Kumar Basu and six others were on Tuesday ordered to be put on trial by a special court on charges of corruption, criminal conspiracy and cheating in connection with a coal block allocation scam case.
Ex-coal secy HC Gupta and other officials were later granted statutory bail as the jail term was below four years.
Five others, including one retired and another serving public servant -- K S Kropha and K C Samria -- were held guilty for various offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act and Indian Penal Code.
The Central Bureua of Investigation sought a maximum of seven years imprisonment for the five convicted persons and imposition of heavy fine on the private firm.
The CBI on Friday told a special court that former coal secretary H C Gupta had allegedly concealed facts from then prime minister Manmohan Singh.
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