"Delhi Special Court Frames Corruption Charges Against IAS Officer and Ex-MLA in Yavatmal Coal Block Case"
In a significant development, a special court in Delhi has officially charged two public officials and discharged the remaining accused in the high-profile case related to the allocation of a coal block in Yavatmal district, Maharashtra. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had filed the case against IAS officer DG Philip and former Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Avinash Warjukar, who held the positions of Managing Director and Chairman, respectively, at the Maharashtra State Mining Corporation Ltd (MSMCL). The court framed corruption charges against the duo under Section 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The coal block in question was allocated to MSMCL, a public sector undertaking in Maharashtra, which had entered into a joint venture with a private company for coal extraction. The CBI alleged irregularities in the selection process of the joint venture partner and the involvement of financial consultants. Several entities that were ineligible under the specified clauses were purportedly made eligible, and the selected joint venture partner allegedly violated the terms of the bid documents and joint venture agreement.
While the beneficiary company, Sunil HiTech Engineers Limited, and its Director Sunil Ratnakar Gutte were discharged due to the company's liquidation under Section 32A of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, the court highlighted the possibility of summoning other directors if additional evidence arises. Similarly, aXYKno Capital Services and its Director R Ramakrishnan, the financial consultants to MSMCL, were also discharged as they were found to have advised against relaxing conditions for the joint venture partner.
The court is scheduled to formally frame charges against Philip and Warjukar on July 7. Various advocates, including Honey Satpal, Vijay Kumar Aggarwal, Vikram Hegde, Shri Singh, Rajeev Singh, Amit Band, and Pankaj Kapoor, appeared on behalf of the accused, while Advocate Sanjay Kumar represented the CBI. This development marks a significant milestone in the ongoing legal proceedings of the coal block case.
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TAGS: Delhi special court corruption charges IAS officer ex-MLA coal block case Yavatmal district Maharashtra CBI Sunil HiTech Engineers Limited DG Philip Avinash Warjukar MSMCL joint venture partner Central Bureau of Investigation irregularities tender financial consultants Section 13(1)(d) of Prevention of Corruption Act beneficiary company discharged liquidation aXYKno Capital Services directors frame charges July 7 advocates Honey Satpal Vijay Kumar Aggarwal Vikram Hegde Shri Singh Rajeev Singh Amit Band Pankaj Kapoor Sanjay Kumar.
