NEW DELHI: After three
months of internal probe, the CBI on Tuesday registered five cases in
connection with the alleged scam in allocation of coal mines and
conducted searches in nearly 30 places across the country.
After registering five FIRs in court, CBI teams fanned out to nearly 10 cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Patna, Hyderabad, Dhanbad and Nagpur and searched premises of owners of some companies.
The
companies named in the FIR by the CBI are Vini Iron and Steel, Nav
Bharat Steel, JLD Yavatmal which is said to be linked to the family of
Congress MP Vijay Darda, JAS infrastructure of Abhijeet Group and AMR
Iron and Steel and their directors and unknown government officials, the
CBI said.
The agency, which had registered a preliminary enquiry in June this year, has slapped charges of cheating and suppression of facts against the companies.
When contacted, Vaibhav Tulsyan, whose office and home were searched by the agency for his alleged association with Vini Iron and Steel, claimed he had sold the company to a close aide of the then Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda.
"I do not know why the searches are taking place at my office and home. I have sold the company five months before coal block allocations. I was not be the beneficiary allottee. My only fault was that I was the applicant for coal blocks.
"Because of Naxal problem we were not able to run the company, so when Vijay Joshi, who was close aide of former chief minister Madhu Koda, approached us with a good offer, we sold the company to him. At the time coal block allocation, the company was already with Joshi" Tulsyan said.
The company was allocated Rajhara North coal block in Jharkhand. Tulsyan was one of the directors when the application was moved for coal block allocation and he was the signatory on the application.
The agency has also reached the office of JAS Infrastructure and Power Limited in Defence Colony here.
The attempts to contact the Abhijeet group spokesperson failed as his office said he was on leave. The office also refused to part with his contact number. The emails sent to him bounced back.
Congress MP Vijay Darda had refuted allegations that he was part of any scam.
He had stated that neither he was involved in any scam nor he had any partnership with Union coal minister Shri Prakash Jaiswal or Subodh Kant Sahai.
He said if any BJP leader proved that he had been allotted nine coal blocks and got benefit of Rs 25000 crore in nexus with Jaiswal, he was ready to relinquish politics else the person making allegations should leave politics.
The filing of FIRs comes three months after registration of a preliminary enquiry into the coal scam by the agency on the directions of the Central Vigilance Commission.
During the preliminary enquiry, the CBI was informed by the Coal ministry officials that it had issued show cause notices to some of the firms which were allocated the mines for explaining the delay in conducting the mining work.
Some of the firms, which were allocated coal blocks in 2005, were yet to start mining, official sources said.
The CBI had also examined the past areas of operation of some of the companies which were allotted coal blocks in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka, the sources said alleging some of these firms had been set up only for getting coal blocks allocated and the same was later sublet to other companies at a premium.
CBI coal probe shows its impartiality: Jaiswal
CBI's registering cases against five companies in the coal block allocation scam leaves no room for further questioning on the impartiality of the investigative agency, coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal said on Tuesday.
"Those who allege CBI works on government instructions, they should answer now, how they feel about the CBI action?" Jaiswal told reporters here, commenting on the development.
Jaiswal's comments come following CBI registered cases against five companies and unknown government officials as part of its probe into alleged irregularities in allocation of coal blocks.
"Please, ask those people who give CBI a bad name when it suits them," Jaiswal said.
After registering five FIRs in court, CBI teams fanned out to nearly 10 cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Patna, Hyderabad, Dhanbad and Nagpur and searched premises of owners of some companies.
The agency, which had registered a preliminary enquiry in June this year, has slapped charges of cheating and suppression of facts against the companies.
When contacted, Vaibhav Tulsyan, whose office and home were searched by the agency for his alleged association with Vini Iron and Steel, claimed he had sold the company to a close aide of the then Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda.
"I do not know why the searches are taking place at my office and home. I have sold the company five months before coal block allocations. I was not be the beneficiary allottee. My only fault was that I was the applicant for coal blocks.
"Because of Naxal problem we were not able to run the company, so when Vijay Joshi, who was close aide of former chief minister Madhu Koda, approached us with a good offer, we sold the company to him. At the time coal block allocation, the company was already with Joshi" Tulsyan said.
The company was allocated Rajhara North coal block in Jharkhand. Tulsyan was one of the directors when the application was moved for coal block allocation and he was the signatory on the application.
The agency has also reached the office of JAS Infrastructure and Power Limited in Defence Colony here.
The attempts to contact the Abhijeet group spokesperson failed as his office said he was on leave. The office also refused to part with his contact number. The emails sent to him bounced back.
Congress MP Vijay Darda had refuted allegations that he was part of any scam.
He had stated that neither he was involved in any scam nor he had any partnership with Union coal minister Shri Prakash Jaiswal or Subodh Kant Sahai.
He said if any BJP leader proved that he had been allotted nine coal blocks and got benefit of Rs 25000 crore in nexus with Jaiswal, he was ready to relinquish politics else the person making allegations should leave politics.
The filing of FIRs comes three months after registration of a preliminary enquiry into the coal scam by the agency on the directions of the Central Vigilance Commission.
During the preliminary enquiry, the CBI was informed by the Coal ministry officials that it had issued show cause notices to some of the firms which were allocated the mines for explaining the delay in conducting the mining work.
Some of the firms, which were allocated coal blocks in 2005, were yet to start mining, official sources said.
The CBI had also examined the past areas of operation of some of the companies which were allotted coal blocks in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka, the sources said alleging some of these firms had been set up only for getting coal blocks allocated and the same was later sublet to other companies at a premium.
CBI coal probe shows its impartiality: Jaiswal
CBI's registering cases against five companies in the coal block allocation scam leaves no room for further questioning on the impartiality of the investigative agency, coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal said on Tuesday.
"Those who allege CBI works on government instructions, they should answer now, how they feel about the CBI action?" Jaiswal told reporters here, commenting on the development.
Jaiswal's comments come following CBI registered cases against five companies and unknown government officials as part of its probe into alleged irregularities in allocation of coal blocks.
"Please, ask those people who give CBI a bad name when it suits them," Jaiswal said.
