Jharkhand coal scam: Delhi High Court stays CBI court's order

The Delhi High Court on 2 January stayed the Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court's order which awarded a three-year jail term to former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda in a coal scam case.

The court has also stayed the fine imposed on Koda until the next date of hearing.

Koda was convicted in the case of illegal allocation of a coal block in Jharkhand to a Kolkata-based firm.

The Special CBI court in Delhi had, on December 16, 2017, sentenced Koda to three years of imprisonment, along with his close aide, Vijay Joshi, former Coal Secretary HC Gupta and Jharkhand's then chief secretary AK Basu. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 25 lakh each on Koda and Joshi, while a fine of Rs 1 lakh was slapped each on Gupta and Basu.

Private company Vini Iron and Steel Udyog Ltd (VISUL) was also found guilty of criminal conspiracy and cheating under the Prevention of Corruption Act and was slapped with a fine of Rs 50 lakh.

The allocation of the Rajhara North coal block is one of the instances of alleged inefficient allocation of coal blocks during 2004 to 2009.

The coal scam hit headlines in 2012 after a Central Government audit revealed that the country had notionally lost upto Rs 1.86 lakh crore due to the inefficient allocation of coal blocks. 

-ANI