Jindal Steel and Power ltd (JSPl) chief and Congress leader Naveen Jindal along with former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda, ex-Minister of State for Coal Dasari Narayan Rao and seven others were on Friday granted bail by a special court which asked them not to tamper with evidence or influence witnesses. Claiming that its stand has been vindicated, JSPl soon after the court’s decision, issued a statement saying that “the court was informed there was no loss or gain to anyone as no exploration could be undertaken in the said coal block because of intense naxal activities in that area.”
The statement further added that “the company has not violated any rules and regulations and allocation was made to the company purely on merit. The company has full faith in judiciary and is confident to come out clean and stand vindicated, upon outcome of the legal process, as there is no substantial case against any accused.”
Meanwhile, the court granted them relief after they appeared before it and sought bail on the ground that they have joined the probe and there was no apprehension that they would flee from justice. Apart from Jindal, Rao and Koda, the court granted bail to former coal Secretary Harish Chandra Gupta and six others on furnishing of a personal bond of Rsone lakh each and a surety of like amount.
Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar directed the accused not to leave the country without the court’s prior permission and fixed the matter for June 1 for scrutiny of documents. While granting bail, the court said undoubtedly the allegations against the accused persons were serious in nature and more so as they occupied high position in the society. “However, at the same time it is also true that during the course of investigation, none of the accused persons were arrested by CBI and there has been no allegation that they did not join the investigation as and when called for,” it said. “I, thus, without entering into any further details on merits or demerits of the case at this stage of the matter, deem it appropriate that the interest of justice will be suitably met if all the above 10 accused persons are released on bail,” the judge said.