New Delhi: CBI was Wednesday directed by a special court to further probe a coal scam case on various aspects, including the role of Ministry of Coal officers and members of 36th Screening Committee in allocating coal block to a West Bengal-based company.
The court also asked the probe agency to investigate what were the factors considered by the Coal Ministry officials and members of Screening Committee before recommending allotment of coal block to Vikash Metal and Power Ltd (VMPL).
Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar, in his order refusing to accept the agency's closure report in the case, said that besides other aspects, the agency should investigate on six specific points.
The six aspects to be probed include the "role of Ministry of Coal officers and that of the Screening Committee members in allocating the Coal Block and what were the factors considered by them before recommending allotment of coal block."
The agency's report should also mention the names of various public servants, including that of Ministry of Coal officers, who dealt with the applications (of companies) during the course of the entire process of allocation of the coal block, the court said.
"What was the role of different directors of the company M/s VMPL and that of various other accused persons against whom the present case was registered," it said.
CBI had filed the closure report in the case in which it had in September 2012 registered an FIR against VMPL and its officials, accusing them of making false claims related to land allocation to get undue advantage in the coal block allocation.
VMPL was allocated Moira and Madhujore (North and South) coal block in West Bengal's Raniganj area.
The FIR was registered against VMPL, its directors, including Vimal Patni, Vikash Patni and Anand Patni, and Anand Mallick who was the authorised signatory for the company for the charges cheating and criminal conspiracy.
The court, in its order, also asked the agency to probe whether the application made by VMPL was scrutinized for its eligibility and completeness by the Coal Ministry before sending the matter to the Screening Committee as per guidelines uploaded on the website of Ministry of Coal.
"Whether the Screening Committee took into consideration the fact that M/s VMPL had mentioned in their application only about their end-use project at Bihar and not that of West Bengal and thus under what circumstances the coal block came to be alloted to M/s VMPL for their end-use project, both at Bihar and West Bengal," the court said.
CBI was also asked to probe whether VMPL was justified in mentioning its highly inflated net-worth in the application form submitted for allocation of coal block and, if yes, then on what basis.
The court added it is expected that the report of further investigation will be detailed and conclusive in nature.
It said the progress report should be supported with legally admissible reasons and not a report prepared as per the whims and fancies of the investigating officer (IO) as has been done till now.
"It is expected that the senior officers of CBI before forwarding the report of further investigation will duly apply their mind to the nature of investigation carried out and the conclusion being arrived at rather than forwarding the report in a mechanical fashion as is seems to have been done till now," the judge said.
