Plea to call Manmohan dismissed

The case relates to the allocation of the Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block in Jharkhand to Jindal Steel & Power Ltd. (JSPL) and Gagan Sponge Iron Pvt. Ltd. (GSIPL) in an illegal manner. The CBI has charge-sheeted the accused persons for criminal conspiracy, cheating and misusing their official position to allot the block to two companies, and the court has taken cognisance of it.

Counsel for Mr. Koda argued that if as per the charge-sheet all the accused persons hatched a conspiracy to secure the allocation of the coal block to the two companies, then the final objective of it could not have been achieved without the active connivance of Dr. Singh.

The Special Public Prosecutor opposed the application, submitting that if Dr. Singh wanted to favour any company specifically then he would not have referred the matter for reconsideration to the Ministry of Coal.
The same Judge had in March this year summoned Dr. Singh as an accused in the coal block case related to the allocation of coal blocks to Hindalco, owned by the Aditya Birla Group, in an illegal manner.

The CBI had sought closure of this case against Dr. Singh but Mr. Parashar had rejected it and summoned Dr. Singh, besides former Coal Secretary P.C. Parakh, industrialist Kumarmangalam Birla and others as accused.

At present, there is a stay on their summoning by the Supreme Court.