Jindal Steal and Power - Daily News & Analysis

The Congress has egg on its face, again. The CBI on Tuesday lodged an FIR against party MP Naveen Jindal charging him with criminal misconduct, conspiracy and cheating in connection with the coal block allocation scam. The FIR, the 12th in the case, also names Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) as well as three other companies — Gagan Sponge Iron Pvt Ltd, Jindal Reality, and New Delhi Exim Pvt Ltd — in which Jindal holds substantial shares, accusing them of influencing the screening committee during the allocation process. The CBI also accused former minister of state for coal Dasari Narayan Rao and his company, Sowbhagya Media, of favouring the Jindal group during the allocation of the Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block in Jharkhand in 2008. It has alleged that Gagan Sponge Iron Pvt Ltd misrepresented information on land and water availability, and made false claims about having coal blocks being allocated to it in the past. CBI sources said a bribe of Rs2.25 crore was transferred from this company to Rao's Sowbhagya Media via two of Jindal's firms in exchange for the favour shown. The bribe was allegedly paid in the form of shares. In December 2008, 11 months after the coal block was allocated, Jindal's New Delhi Exim bought about 2.5 lakh shares in Sowbhagya Media. The shares, priced at Rs28 each, were bought at about Rs100 each. Jindal's group was the largest beneficiary from the allocations, but the MP has maintained that all coal blocks were apportioned solely on the basis of merit. Soon after it lodged the FIR, the CBI raided Jindal's house and offices in Delhi. It also sealed a few cupboards at Jindal's residence. In all, 19 locations were raided in Delhi and Hyderabad. As news of it spread, shares in Jindal Steel dropped 15.4% — its lowest in about four years. The coal scam has claimed the head of former law minister Ashwani Kumar, who was forced to quit last month after the SC pulled up the Centre and the CBI for allegedly tampering with the investigation report. A preliminary enquiry to examine the coal block scam was started in June last year after the comptroller and auditor general pulled up the government for allocating about 155 coal blocks to almost 100 private and public companies, including ArcelorMittal, Tata and JSPL. via Business - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNG8wx2dJ6HcjWHWaUp8fnqj6G72lg&url=http://www.dnaindia.com/india/1846851/report-jindal-steal-and-power

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