The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), while alleging misrepresentation and deception by Congress MP Vijay Darda’s company, JLD Yavatmal Energy, has pointed at criminal conspiracy and negligence by officials of the Union ministry of coal in the allocation of blocks to private companies during 2006-09.
In its First Information Report (FIR), it said Yavatmal Energy had fraudulently claimed in its application for coal blocks that it was jointly promoted, controlled and managed by the Lokmat group and IDFC. It “claimed networth of Rs 2544 crore of IDFC and and 73.38 crore of Lokmat’ group in its support”. This, according to the FIR, was an attempt by Yavatmal to “embellish its claim for allocation”. CBI has said “officials of the ministry of coal, in pursuance of a criminal conspiracy, failed to carry out scrutiny of the documents regarding the false claims and concealment of facts by Yavatmal Energy”, enabling it to get undue advantage in allocation of the Fatehpur East Coal Block.
Besides Vijay Darda, also chairman of the Lokmat group, the FIR has named his brother, Rajendra Darda, education minister in the Maharashtra government. The name of Devendra Darda, son of Vijay Darda, also figures in the FIR. Among others mentioned are Manoj Jayaswal, Anand Jayaswal and Abhishek Jayaswal of the Abhijeet group. While the Union ministry of power had recommended allocation of a coal block to Yavatmal, the government of Chhattisgarh, where the block was located, was against it, said CBI.
The Central Electricity Authority (CEA), on whose analysis the power ministry made its recommendation to the coal ministry, had kept a minimum net worth of Rs 0.5 crore per Mw of the maximum capacity of the proposed power plant as a pre-qualification criterion. CBI said Yavatmal, with a proposed capacity of 1,215 Mw, “would not have pre-qualified for the recommendation of the ministry of power but for (their) deception”.
CBI’s preliminary enquiry began in June and CBI has now registered FIRs against AMR Iron and Steel, JLD Yavatmal, Navbharat Power, Vini Iron and Steel and Jas Infrastructure under sections 120B and 420 of the penal code, on criminal conspiracy and cheating. Their investigation into the matter began on a reference by the Central Vigilance Commission, the government’s anti-corruption watchdog, based on a complaint made by the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party in 2009.
The action came soon after the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India on allocation of coal blocks without going through bidding.
The CAG report, which has pegged the financial gains to private coal companies at Rs 1.86 lakh crore, named many of the companies being probed by CBI.