A special court on August 16 framed an additional charge of abetment to bribe against Congress leader and industrialist Naveen Jindal in a case pertaining to alleged irregularities in the allocation of Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block in Jharkhand.
Special judge Bharat Parashar framed the charges against the accused after Jindal said he was pleading not guilty and claimed trial.
Madhu Koda did not appear before the judicature today citing personal reasons, the formal framing of former Jharkhand chief minister would take place on August 31.
The CBI had alleged that Mr. Koda had favored Jindal group firms — Jindal Steel and Power Ltd and Gagan Sponge Iron Pvt Ltd — in the allocation of Amarkonda Murgadangal block.
Abetment of bribery is a punishable offense under Section 12 in the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, with imprisonment for a term of six months to five years.
In July, the court ordered framing of charges under Section 120B (Criminal Conspiracy) against Jindal Steel and Power’s (JSPL) then adviser Anand Goel, Nihar Stocks Ltd director BSN Suryanarayan and Mumbai’s Essar Power Ltd Executive Vice Chairman Sushil Kumar Maroo. All three were named in an additional charge sheet filed by the investigating agency in the case.
Due to lack of evidence the court discharged Mumbai-based KE International’s Chief Financial Officer Rajeev Aggarwal and Gurgaon-based Green Infra’s Vice-President Siddharth Madra from the case.
