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AES Chhattisgarh Energy Private Limited and its founding director, Sanjeev Kumar Aggarwal, have been acquitted by a special court in Delhi. The case relates to the allocation of the Sayang coal block in Chhattisgarh in 2007. Aggarwal and the company were accused of cheating and criminal conspiracy in getting the allottment when the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed charges against them in 2015-17.
The case, filed by the CBI, had alleged that the company claimed to be a 100 per cent subsidiary of AES Corporation, USA , when it applied for the coal block and therefore misinterpreted itself. The CBI claimed that the company itself had stated that it was not a subsidiary of any other holding company to the Registrar of Companies office. In as much, a first information report (FIR) was filed in 2015 under section 120B/420 Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 13(2)/13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act,1988 against AES Chhattisgarh Energy, its directors, and officials of the Ministry of Coal and screening committee.
In 2017, the CBI filed a case under sections 420 of IPC, section 120 B IPC, and 120 B IPC read with 420 IPC against AES Chhattisgarh Energy and one of its Directors Sanjay Aggarwal.
Senior advocate Vikas Pahwa, representing the company and Aggarwal, argued that there was no misrepresentation and that the and at the time they had informed the authorities that it was yet to be a subsidiary of the US corporation. In their final argument, Advocate Pahwa also stated that the investigation was conducted in ignorance of the Companies Act, 1956.
Additional Sessions Judge Arun Bhardwaj on Tuesday, quashed allegations of cheating and criminal conspiracy, stating that there was no misrepresentation when the company applied for the coal block. The court noted that the director's report attached to the company's audited balance sheet showed that AES Chhattisgarh Energy was an affiliate of AES India.
“It is obvious that it was a blatant mistake on the part of AES Chhattisgarh Energy Private Ltd to mention in its Form 23 AC that it is not a subsidiary of any holding company whereas it was subsidiary of AES Corporation, USA,” the court stated, according to a report by Bar and Bench.
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The court concluded that the accused had not cheated the Ministry of Coal, and both were acquitted of all charges.
(With agency inputs)
