Coal Scam: Company and directors convicted for conspiracy, forging documents to cheat Government of India

A Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Court has convicted a company and its directors for allegedly conspiring to cheat the Government of India in 2003 to get a coal block in Odisha allocated in their favour [CBI v. M/s Adhunik Corporation Ltd. & Ors]..The company had succeeded in procuring allocation of the New Patrapara Coal Block allocated for its sponge iron plants at Durgapur, West Bengal and Sundargarh, Odisha..Special Judge Arun Bharadwaj said all “attending circumstances unerringly” pointed towards criminal conspiracy on the part of the company to cheat the Ministry of Steel (MoS), the government’s Screening Committee and the Ministry of Coal in doing so..Adhunik Corporation Ltd and its directors - Nirmal Kumar Agarwal and Mahesh Kumar Agarwal - were thus tried and convicted in the case investigated by the CBI.All three were held guilty for criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery under Sections 120B, Section 420 and Section 471 of the Indian Penal Code. A fourth accused, Ghanshyam Das Agarwal, was not summoned for want of material against him..It was alleged that the company made a representation to the Steel and Coal Ministries on April 7, 2003. These representations pertained to the company’s annual production capacity of its sponge plant and other documents for the procurement of the coal block.The company, it was alleged, used forged documents to cheat the government while seeking the allocation. The prosecution consequently examined 22 witnesses to prove its case. On the other hand, the accused persons examined only a single defence witness..On the company’s claim of its production capacity being 72,000 metric tonne (MT) per year, the Court observed,“According to the balance sheet of M/s Adhunik Corporation, the production of sponge iron in the year ending on March 31, 2004 was just 36,435 and installed capacity was 60,000 TPY. Therefore, it is proved that M/s Adhunik Corporation was not producing 72,000 TPY sponge iron and its production capacity was not 72,000 TPY as on April 7, 2003.”.The 161-page judgment held Mahesh and Nirmal to be key management personnel of the company who acted “in tandem with each other” with the objective of securing allocation of a coal block in favour of the company.They were further stated to have made false representations supported by forged letters actuated with one aim - procurement of coal block by cheating the Ministry of Coal, Government of India - using forged letters.“The deficiencies/shortcomings in letter dated April 7, 2003 as pointed out by MoS in their letter on August 7, 2005, were made good by Nirmal Kumar Agarwal by enclosing with his letters as many as four forged letters. He was using forged letters with gay abandon oblivious of consequences of the same,” the Court said..On the point of conspiracy, the Court found it “extremely difficult” to have a direct evidence for conspiracies that were planned in “utmost secrecy and darkness”.The judgment, however, held,“Circumstantial evidence in this case unerringly points to the conspiracy amongst the accused and there is no other inference except the inference of criminal conspiracy to secure allocation of a coal block by cheating MoS, Screening Committee and MoC, Government of India in the process.”The order on sentencing is slated to take place on April 25..Senior Advocate RS Cheema, Tarannum Cheema, Senior Public Prosecutors AP Singh and NP Shrivastava represented the CBI. Advocate Vijay Aggarwal appeared for the accused..[Read Judgment]