File photo of former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda.
A court in New Delhi today fixed September 28 to hear the CBI's submission on the plea of former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda seeking
summoning of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a coal block case relating to allocation to Jindal Group firms.
Special Judge Bharat Parashar set September 28 to hear the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) submission on the Koda plea.
Former Union Minister of State for coal Dasari Narayan Rao told a court yesterday that allocation of a coal block to Jindal Group was done on the behest of then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and sought he be summoned.
Mr Rao's submission has come while supporting Mr
Koda's plea.
However, Congress leader and
industrialist Naveen Jindal's counsel submitted that neither he is opposing nor supporting Mr Koda's application. He added that any order passed by the court on Mr Koda's application should not prejudice the rights of the accused to seek discharge from the case.
Mr Koda had filed a plea last month seeking summoning of Mr Manmohan Singh in the case.
In his plea, he said: "Materials placed by the CBI shows the said conspiracy, if any, cannot be complete without the involvement of the (then) coal minister (Manmohan Singh) who had the final say in the entire allotment."
He also sought summoning of the then energy secretary Anand Swaroop and the then mines secretary Jai Shankar Tiwari, saying they were part of the three-member sub-group formed by the Jharkhand government to evaluate the pleas of firms and suggest suitable application for recommendation by the state.
The court was hearing a case related to the allocation of Jharkhand's Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block to Jindal Steel and Gagan Sponge.
Apart from Mr Koda, Mr Jindal, Mr Rao, former coal secretary HC Gupta and others have been named as accused in the case.
They have been charge sheeted for criminal conspiracy and cheating as well as under the Prevention of Corruption Act.