A special court on Tuesday ordered to put former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda, former coal secretary HC Gupta, former chief secretary of Jharkhand Ashok Kumar Basu and six others on trial on charges of corruption, criminal conspiracy and cheating in connection with a coal block allocation scam case.
Apart from Koda, Gupta and Basu, the special CBI court of Bharat Parashar also ordered framing of charges against two public servants, Basant Bhattacharya and Bipin Bihari Singh, Vini Iron and Steel Udyog Ltd (VISUL), its director Vaibhav Tulsyan, chartered accountant Navin Tulsyan and the former chief minister's alleged close aide Vijay Joshi.
The court fixed 31 July for formal framing of charges against the nine accused and directed them to remain present on that day.
The case pertains to the alleged irregularities in allocation of Rajhara North coal block in Jharkhand to Kolkata-based company VISUL.
