New Delhi: Industrialist and senior Congress leader Naveen Jindal and 14 others have been summoned to court on May 22 in connection with a case of suspected irregularities in the allocation of the Amarakonda Murgadandal coal block in Jharkhand in 2008.
Special judge Bharat Parashar acted on the basis of a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) charge-sheet in the seven year old case. The CBI had, on April 29 this year, booked 15 people, including Jindal, the largest individual shareholder in steelmaker Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL), and former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda.
The suspects have been booked under various sections for suspected criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust by a public servant, cheating and also under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The court said in its order that it was convinced that, prima facie, these offences had been committed.
JSPL was in the news last month for placing a BDT4.8bn ($61.3m) order with Bangladesh’s largest shipbuilder Western Marine Shipyard for 10 new mini bulk carriers.
