Four years after registering a preliminary enquiry, the CBI has registered a fresh case in coal scam against Prakash Industries alleging cheating in the allocation of Chotia coal block during the NDA Government’s tenure in 2003. Based on a complaint by former Congress MP Sandeep Dikshit and others in 2012, the CVC had directed CBI to register the case but it remained a preliminary enquiry till now.
The FIR registered on Friday says Coal Ministry had issued allocation letter to Prakash Industries on September 4, 2003 for the allocation of Chotia Coal Block for expansion of its sponge iron plant in Champa, Madhya Pradesh (now in Chhattisgarh) with certain conditions. The agency alleged the company made “false claims” about production figures of its sponge iron plant in several of its communications to the Coal Ministry while applying for the block. The company had first applied in 1993.
It said the plant is expected to achieve figures of 2.9 lakh ton in 2002-03, hence captive coal block be allotted to It thus proving that claims made by it in 2001 and 2002 to be false, the CBI FIR alleged.