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CBI suspects Devendra, Rajendra and Vijay Darda sold firms after getting coal blocks

Rahul Tripathi

Posted: Sep 07, 2012 at 0224 hrs IST
Congress MP Vijay Darda

New Delhi The Central Bureau of Investigation suspects that Congress MP Vijay Darda, his son Devendra Darda, and brother Rajendra Darda, who is Maharashtra’s education minister, were directors and promoters of three companies that were allotted coal blocks, and sold their stakes to dummy firms at huge premiums after the allotment.

The Dardas were among the 25 people named in the FIRs registered in connection with the controversial allotments by the agency earlier this week. They are accused of criminal conspiracy, cheating and misrepresentation of facts. The FIRs named five companies which were allotted six coal blocks.

Besides the five companies, the CBI is also examining the role of Abhijeet Group, Jayaswal Neco Ltd, Navabharat Ventures, Mahalaxmi Energy and Abhijeet Foundation. Another half-a-dozen companies linked to the Dardas are also under the scanner.

Sources in the CBI said that the three Dardas were among the directors and promoters of JLD Yavatmal, Jas Infra and AMR Iron when the firms applied for coal blocks. Investigators also said that they suspected that some of the companies that got coal blocks were acting as fronts for the purpose. “We will soon question the directors and promoters of all the firms,” said a CBI official.

The agency suspects that ‘dummy’ companies were floated to inflate the net-worth of the five firms which then sold their shares and in some cases the entire company at a hugely inflated price. The agency has also compiled the list of companies which either purchased or held a stake in these five firms.

CBI sources said that the probe had so far found that the Dardas and their partners, the Jayaswals, first got coal blocks in 2008 in Rampia in Orissa. After this, they floated AMR Infra and Steels Pvt Ltd and got another coal block in Bander in Maharashtra in 2009.

The agency also suspects that Manoj Jayaswal’s Abhijeet Group, which had already got five coal blocks, suppressed the information while applying for a fresh coal block to avoid detection by the screening committee. The net worth of both the Abhijeet Group and the Dardas jumped after the allotments, the CBI believes.

The agency has so far probed 28 private firms in connection with the coal block allotments and about a dozen of them failed to justify the allotments during the preliminary enquiry. At least six more cases are expected to be filed in the next fortnight, sources said. The CBI is being assisted in the probe by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and Income Tax authorities.

Investigators are also expected to question state government officials as most of the allotments were made on the recommendations of state governments. Present and former chief ministers and chief secretaries of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Orissa are among those expected to be questioned. The agency also expects to submit a status report of its probe to the Central Vigilance Commission by the end of this month.

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SYSTEM FAILURE by VIJAY B. BAGWE on 07 Sep 2012

It is disturbing to note why the scandals of such massive proportions, are detected only when the opposition disrupts the parliament. Why those who are supposed to scrutinise the papers before allocating the coal blocs, as well as Income Tax when companies owned by Darda's file their returns, fail to find in time that something wrong is being done. Why should they wait till the disruption of the parliament? Along with Darda's the persons responsible to allocate the blocs and those scrutinising the tax returns, too should be questioned. These investigations should be completed on SOS basis and the guilty must be punished heavily so that reccurence of such massive loot is avoided in future.

no system at all by nick sharma on 07 Sep 2012

INDIA IS KNOWS AS BASKET A THIRD WORLD COUNTRY NOT BECAUSE OF ITS PEOPLE BUT MANLY BECAUSE OF ITS COLONIAL 100 YRS OLD SYSTEM OF GOVERNANCE. NO TRAINING REQ. TO DO ANYTHING HERE. NEEDS TO UPGRADE & INVEST IN TECHNOLOGY & CHOOSING RIGHT MAN FOR RIGHT JOB.AS LONG AS IT WON'T INDIA HAS TO KEEP ON STRUGGLE WITH EACH & EVERY PROBLEM.

darda sold by suleymen dar on 07 Sep 2012

the man who studied with one off my relative in 1970 in modest school asumed wealth by political mean try to control each aspect off vidarb

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