Coal block case: Court reserves verdict on plea against CBI report

The Rouse Avenue Court reserved its verdict on a plea by Congress leaders challenging the CBI's closure report in the coal block case involving Nippon Denro Ispat Ltd. The court will deliver its order on September 10.

Representative Image (File Photo/ANI)

The Rouse Avenue Court on Tuesday reserved its order on the protest petitions filed by Congress leaders Sandeep Dikshit and Manickam Tagore challenging the closure report submitted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the alleged coal block allocation case involving M/s Nippon Denro Ispat Ltd.

Special CBI Judge (Coal Block Cases) Virender Kumar Kharta reserved the verdict after hearing arguments from the counsel representing Dikshit and Tagore, as well as the CBI. The court will pronounce its order on September 10.

Advocate Sarim Naved appeared for former Member of Parliament Sandeep Dikshit, while Advocate Surya Kiran represented Tagore. Earlier on June 5, counsel for the complainants submitted that they were limiting their prayers in the protest petition and application under Section 156(3) of the CrPC strictly to the summoning of the accused based on the material and chargesheet already on record, while waiving all other reliefs.

On July 10, 2024, the Rouse Avenue Court issued notices to seven political leaders--including Union Minister of State Ravneet Singh, Manickam Tagore, Sandeep Dikshit, Harish Chaudhary, Chaudhary Lal Singh, Raghuveer Singh Meena, and Ijyaraj Singh--seeking their response to the CBI's closure report.

CBI Closure Report Findings

The case originates from a complaint submitted by seven MPs on September 5, 2012, alleging large-scale irregularities in the allocation of coal blocks between 1993 and 2004. In its closure report, the CBI concluded that its investigation revealed no evidence of criminal conspiracy, cheating, or abuse of official position committed by any public servants or private entities, including the named firm Nippon Denro Ispat Limited (which has since dissolved and merged into JSW Steel Limited).

Background of the Complaint

The court noted in its earlier order that on September 14, 2012, Dikshit submitted a supplementary complaint detailing 24 specific coal blocks that required in-depth investigation regarding their allocation processes.

Although the Khiloni coal block--the primary subject of the present case--was not explicitly listed in Dikshit's September 14 letter, he reiterated that all coal block allocations since the inception of the 1993 policy warranted a comprehensive probe.

The court had also observed that while the initial September 5 complaint was signed by seven MPs, the September 14 letter was signed solely by Dikshit, who noted that he was submitting the document on behalf of his colleagues as they were out of Delhi at the time. Following a reference from the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), the CBI initially registered a Preliminary Enquiry (PE), which was subsequently converted into a Regular Case (RC). While the CBI previously argued that the complainants had filed a general grievance and were not specifically targeting the named entity, the court deemed it necessary to hear the original complainants before deciding on the closure report. (ANI)

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