Coal Scam: Court grants bail to Naveen Jindal, Narayan Rao, Madhu Koda and others
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New Delhi, May 22 (ANI): A special court in Delhi on Friday granted bail Congress leader and industrialist Naveen Jindal in a coal block allocation case, along with former chief minister of Jharkhand Madhu Koda and former junior minister for coal, Dasari Narayan Rao. Jindal and 7 others were granted bail but not permitted to leave the country or tamper with prosecution witness. They were all summoned over alleged irregularities in the allocation of coal mining blocks in Jharkhand. Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in its chargesheet had said that to win coal block allocation for his company, Jindal promised support to Koda. The court also said to the Consumer Action Network that if required in future, they would be called for assistance in the later stage. The case known as "Coalgate" came to light in 2012 after a government auditor said the exchequer had lost up to $33 billion due to collusion between officials and private firms to depress the cost of coal-field awards. Most coal block awards made by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government were overturned late last year by the Supreme Court, which ruled the process illegal.
