1st conviction in coal scam: Rungtas get 4-year prison

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In the first conviction in the coal block allocation scam, Jharkhand Ispat Private limited (JIPl) directors RC Rungta and RS Rungta were on Monday awarded four-year jail.

Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar, who delivered the first judgement in the coal scam, also imposed Rs 5 lakh fine on each of the convicts held guilty for deceiving and defrauding the Government to bag a coal block in Jharkhand. The company JIPl too was slapped with a fine of of Rs 25 lakh.

Rungtas and JIPl are the first ones to be convicted among the several  coal scam cases going on in the court which had in its March 28 verdict observed that the convicts had “fraudulently” and with a dishonest intention “deceived” the Government in allocating the North Dhadu coal block in Jharkhand to the firm.

In its 132-page judgement, the court had held that the “intention to defraud on the part of accused persons is writ large on the face of record.” Besides this, 19 other cases investigated by the CBI are pending before court, which was set up to exclusively deal with all coal scam matters.

Two other cases probed by ED are also pending before the court.

Daily Pioneer
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