Coal scam: Delhi HC reserves order on former Jharkhand CM Madhu Koda’s plea to stay conviction

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday reserved its order on a plea by former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda seeking a stay on his conviction in a coal scam case to enable him to contest the upcoming assembly elections.

Justice Neena Bansal Krishna noted that written submissions have already been filed on behalf of Koda and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which probed the case.

The application was opposed by the CBI on grounds of maintainability.

Koda urged the court for suspension of the December 13, 2017 order of conviction to contest in the 2024 Jharkhand state assembly polls

Senior advocate R S Cheema and lawyer Tarannum Cheema, representing the CBI, submitted that an identical application filed by Koda was dismissed in May 2020 and his fresh plea seeking the same relief is not maintainable.

“This court (earlier) took note of the increasing demand for steps to be taken for decriminalisation of politics. In keeping with this principle, this court unequivocally dismissed the application. Pertinently, no appeal was filed challenging this judgment. The applicant allowed it to attain finality,” the CBI said in its submissions.

Earlier in May 2020, the high court had declined to stay Koda's conviction, saying it would not be apt to allow him to contest an election to any public office until he has been finally acquitted.

It had said the wider opinion was that those charged with crimes ought to be disqualified from contesting elections to public offices. Therefore, it would not be appropriate to stay Koda's conviction and allow him to overcome the disqualification he has incurred, the high court had said.

Koda, ex-coal secretary H C Gupta, former Jharkhand chief secretary A K Basu, and Koda’s close aide Vijay Joshi were awarded jail terms of three years by a trial court for indulging in corrupt practices and hatching a criminal conspiracy in the allocation of Rajhara North coal block in Jharkhand to Kolkata-based company Vini Iron and Steel Udyog Ltd (VISUL).

It had also imposed fines of Rs 50 lakh, Rs 25 lakh and Rs 1 lakh on VISUL, Koda and Gupta, respectively in the UPA-era coal scam. A Rs i lakh fine was also imposed on Basu.

Under the Representation of the People Act, a person convicted of a crime and sentenced to at least two years in prison is immediately disqualified as an MP, MLA of a member of a state legislative council (MLC). The person remains disqualified for six years after their release from prison.

They were granted bail during the pendency of their appeals.

They were tried for offences under section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) read with section 420 (cheating) and section 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servants) of the IPC and under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The CBI had said that the firm had applied for allocation of the Rajhara North coal block on January 8, 2007.

It had said although the Jharkhand government and the steel ministry did not recommend VISUL's case for coal block allocation, the 36th Screening Committee allotted it to the accused firm.

The CBI had said that Gupta, who headed the screening committee, had concealed the fact from then prime minister Manmohan Singh, who also held the coal portfolio, that Jharkhand had not recommended VISUL for allocation of a coal block.