Coal scam: Naveen Jindal, other accused face court's ire

Congress leader and industrialist Naveen Jindal and other accused, chargesheeted by the CBI in a coal scam case, today faced special court's ire for delay in completing the process of scrutiny of documents supplied to them by the agency along with its final report. "It is too late now. By when you will complete scrutiny of documents," Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar said after the counsel appearing for Jindal and other accused sought time to complete scrutiny of documents saying the case records were voluminous and some of them were not legible.

"I have got the certified copy (of documents) checked thrice. Atleast 50 times you all have been allowed to inspect the court record. I will then hear the matter on a day-to-day basis," the judge said.

Initially, the judge was reluctant to give time to the accused to complete the process of scrutiny of documents and said they would have to sit in the court today and do it. "Let the accused sit here and do scrutiny of documents. You (accused) all be here and complete it today," the court said, adding, "investigation officer (IO) will also sit here and will handover the documents to the accused as sought." Senior advocate Ramesh Gupta, appearing for Jindal and some other accused, said they have received certified copies of the documents and their scrutiny was going on.

Gupta sought one more week for completing the scrutiny of documents while the other defence counsel said some of the documents supplied to them were not legible. "I am only saying give us one week more time and we will complete the scrutiny of documents," he said.The judge said, "No, I will not give any further time." Meanwhile, special public prosecutor R S Cheema requested the court to grant seven more days to the accused to complete scrutiny of documents.

The court, however, told all the accused that the process should be complete by August 17, the next date of hearing. The court also asked the IO to ensure that documents now supplied to the accused should be legible and complete in all respect. The case pertains to alleged irregularities in allocation of Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block in Jharkhand to two Jindal group companies, Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) and Gagan Sponge Iron Pvt Ltd (GSIPL).