Much to the relief of former Chief Minister Madhu Koda, the Jharkhand High Court on Thursday acquitted him, along with his aide Binod Sinha, in the Rs 90-lakh State Pollution Control Board scam and a graft case related to stone-crusher units.
The court of Justice RR Prasad acquitted the two due to lack of evidence submitted by the Vigilance Bureau and quashed the FIR.
Koda has been in Birsa Munda Central Jail since November 30, 2009, after being arrested by the State Vigilance Bureau from Chaibasa in a case related to multi-crore money laundering.
Koda and Sinha had challenged Vigilance Bureau allegations, with the former being charged with appointing Pollution Control Board chairman Raj Kapoor Sinha illegally and taking inducements instead of issuing no-objection certificates to stone-crushers.
According to Koda’s counsel Bishwajeet Mukherjee, Sinha was duly recommended by the then Secretary of department of forest & environment and subsequently by Minister Sudhir Mahto. Neither of the two was booked.
Mukherjee claimed that the lower court had hurriedly framed charges against only two persons and the Vigilance Bureau too submitted chargesheet against only Sinha and Koda. Binod Sinha and Rohitash Krishnan also allegedly gave Rs 40 lakh and Rs 50 lakh, respectively, to one Sanjay Dubey to be further given to Sanjeev Poddar for use of Madhu Koda in the lok Sabha elections of 2009.
According to Koda’s counsel, there was no substantial evidence on charged of corruption, cheating, forgery, using forged documents and other sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
“We informed the court that Koda has been lodged in jail for the past two and a half years without any material evidence to proceed in the court,” Mukherjee added.
The former CM will, however, stay in jail as he is still to secure bail in a bribery case concerning Rajiv Gandhi Rural Electrification Scheme projects in Palamau and Dumka districts.
He has earlier been granted bail by Jharkhand High Court in a disproportionate assets case and another bribery case relating to forest clearance. On March 1, the Supreme Court also granted bail to Koda and his aide Vikas Sinha for their alleged role in money-laundering cases.