New Delhi:
In a new case filed today in the coal scam, the CBI has named Congress MP Naveen Jindal, his company Jindal Power and Steel, and former Minister of State for Coal Dasari Narayan Rao.
Mr Jindal has been accused of criminal misconduct, conspiracy and cheating.
Jindal Steel shares closed 15 percent down at 226 rupees.
The CBI says that Mr Jindal's company invested about two crores in a firm owned by Mr Rao in exchange for being granted coal fields.
The case against Mr Jindal is deeply embarrassing for his party, which has been scalded heavily by "Coal-Gate."
"The FIR against Mr Jindal shows how the Congress loot of the country," said BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar. He reiterated his party's demand for the resignation of the Prime Minister who had direct charge of the Coal Ministry for some of the years under scrutiny.
The case involving Mr Jindal -the 12th filed by the CBI- is the first to allege a quid pro quo between a firm that got a coal license and officials in charge of deciding allocations.
Mr Jindal's home and offices were raided this morning by the CBI.
"JSPL, as a law abiding company, is governed by a strong ethical code of conduct," said Manu Kapoor, Jindal Steel's head of external affairs. "This is an ongoing CBI investigation into coal block allocation. At this stage of investigation, JSPL is committed to fully cooperate with CBI."
The CBI has said that the government's screening committee which assigned coal fields to private firms did not conduct adequate background checks on applicants and made allocations without transparency.
In May, Ashwani Kumar was forced to quit as Law Minister after allegations that he tried to influence the CBI's investigation.