NEW DELHI: CBI on Friday registered a fresh case in the coal block allocation scam against unknown government officials and Indal (Indian Aluminium Company), now Hindalco, for alleged irregularities in the use of coal from Talabira-I coal block. The company was allocated the block in 1994.
The agency had last year closed its previous case against Hindalco in the allocation of Talabira II & III coal blocks, saying “allocation was done in the larger interest of the country and keeping in view the federal legal framework”. However, the Special CBI court had on December 16 rejected the closure report and asked the agency to examine former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the case, which it did earlier this week.
Giving details of the fresh case, which happens to be the 38th FIR in the coal scam, CBI spokesperson Kanchan Prasad said, “CBI registered a fresh case in the coal allocation matters against unknown public servants and M/s Indal (now Hindalco). Searches have been carried out on Friday at four places, one in Mumbai and three places in Sambalpur, Odisha.”
“Allegations are that coal was used in an unauthorized manner in the existing power plants whereas allocation was done for expanding the capacity of new power plant. Further, mining was started without mine opening permission,” she added.
The CBI spokesperson further said that “the public servants facilitated it by not taking action against the unauthorized use despite their knowledge”. Talabira-I coal block in IB valley in Odisha, with nearly 22.55 million tonnes of geological reserves, was allotted to Indal on February 25, 1994.
CBI claimed to seized several documents during the raids on Friday.
Reacting to the FIR, a Hindalco spokesperson said, “As is known, CBI has been investigating coal block allocations made since 1993, under the monitoring of the Supreme Court. With regard to allocation of 15% share to Hindalco in Talabira II & III coal mine, CBI has already filed their closure report. In continuation with their investigation into 185 coal mines across industry, CBI has now begun its investigation into Talabira-I, a mine allocated in 1994 to the erstwhile Indal, which was later acquired by Hindalco. In this connection, CBI carried out searches in three of the company’s sites.”
“Already, the Supreme Court has cancelled the allocation of 204 coal mines to all the respective companies. The mines will be auctioned as announced by the Ministry of Coal,” said the Hindalco spokesperson.
TOI | Jan 24, 2015
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