Coal scam: CBI lodges 28th FIR against Gondwana Ispat

The company was allocated the Majra coal block in 2003 during the NDA regime for their sponge iron plant in Maharashtra

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered yet another FIR in the coal block allocation scam against Gondwana Ispat and its promoter-director Ashok Daga. The Nagpur based company was allocated the Majra coal block in 2003 during the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime for their sponge iron plant in Maharashtra. This is 28th FIR with regard to CBI probe into alleged irregularities in the allocation of coal blocks.

CBI has alleged that the company had misrepresented its eligibility qualification to get the coal block. "The company allegedly disposed off their equity without developing the coal mine and did not utilise it for the end-use for which it was allocated," the agency said.

CBI has undertaken three preliminary enquiries related to coal scam allocations between 2006 and 2009, allocations between 1993 and 2004, and projects given under the government dispensation scheme.

The recent cases are among the list of coal block allocations that were referred by the CBI to the Central Vigilance Commission. CBI had initially said that the evidence in these cases was not sufficient to register an FIR.

Earlier this week, CBI had registered three more FIRs in the coal scam. Of all the 28 FIRs, the investigative agency has closed four cases and filed chargesheets in two other cases. The agency is also preparing to register more chargesheets in the case against former coal secretaries including H C Gupta and former Jharkhand chief secretary A K Basu in the coal scam. So far there haven't been any chargesheets against any bureaucrat in the scam.