New Delhi: The CBI Wednesday told a special court that it is awaiting sanction from the competent authority to prosecute two public servants who have been summoned as accused in a coal blocks allocation scam case.
"IO (investigating officer) states that no information has been received from the competent authority regarding according of sanction qua the public servants. Matter be now put up on May 13 for submission of progress report of further investigation," Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar said.
CBI had approached concerned authorities for considering granting sanction to prosecute two government servants - then Joint Secretary of Coal Ministry K S Kropha and then Director (Coal Allocation-I section) K C Samaria - for alleged offences punishable under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA).
The case pertains to alleged misrepresentation of facts, including inflated net worth, by Madhya Pradesh-based company Kamal Sponge Steel and Power Ltd (KSSPL) to acquire Thesgora-B Rudrapuri coal block in that state.
The court had earlier summoned former Coal Secretary H C Gupta, Kropha, Samaria, KSSPL's Managing Director Pawan Kumar Ahluwalia, chartered accountant Amit Goyal and the company as accused in the case after refusing to accept the CBI's closure report in the matter.
The court, in its order passed on October 13 last year, had noted that since Samaria and Kropha were still in active government service, no cognizance of alleged offences under the PCA could be taken against them due to want of sanction to prosecute them.
These five accused were earlier granted bail by the court after they had appeared before it in pursuance to summonses issued against them.
All the accused were summoned in the case for the alleged offences punishable under sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) read with 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant) and 420 (cheating) of the IPC. Only Gupta was summoned for the offences punishable under the provisions of PCA.
While summoning the accused in the case, the court had said that public servants had allegedly abused their official positions and acted against public interest due to which KSSPL obtained pecuniary advantage.
CBI, in its FIR lodged in the case, had claimed that officials of KSSPL had furnished unaudited balance sheet and had allegedly inflated its capacity to produce sponge iron by 25 percent.
