Former Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Darda, Son Devender Darda Lodged In Tihar Jail Over Coal Scam Case

Darda was lodged in ward number 3 of central jail number 2 after all formalities including the medical checkup were finished.

The court sentenced Vijay Darda along with his son Devender Darda to four years in jail in the case.

Source : PTI

Former Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Darda was lodged at Tihar Jail in Delhi on Wednesday after a city court sentenced him to four years in jail in a case related to irregularities in the allocation of a coal block in Chhattisgarh. Darda was lodged in ward number 3 of central jail number 2 after all formalities including the medical checkup were finished. Earlier in the day, the court sentenced Darda along with his son Devender Darda to four years in jail in the case, holding that the convicts obtained the block by "cheating" the Centre. Along with the duo, the JLD Yavatmal Energy Pvt Ltd director Manoj Kumar Jayaswal has also been given a four-year jail term. 

All three convicts were taken into custody immediately after the order of the court. “Convicts Manoj Kumar Jayaswal, Vijay Darda and Devender Darda are taken into custody and be sent to jail to serve the sentence,” the judge said.

Meanwhile, a former coal secretary H C Gupta and two other officials K S Kropha and K C Samaria received a three-year jail sentence.

However, the three convicts were granted bail by the court to enable them to challenge their conviction and punishment before the high court.

Earlier this month, special judge Sanjay Bansal held the accused guilty of criminal conspiracy (punishable under Section 120-B of IPC) and cheating (punishable under section 420 of IPC), and under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act. 

The submissions made by Public Prosecutor A P Singh were accepted by the court, that the CBI was able to prove its case beyond all reasonable doubts. On November 20, 2014, the court refused to accept the closure report submitted by the CBI in the case and directed the federal probe agency to investigate it afresh, stating that the former MP had "misrepresented" facts in letters written to the then prime minister, Manmohan Singh, who held the coal portfolio.

The scandal came to light during the Manmohan Singh government in 2012 after the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) panned the government for ineffecient allocation of 194 coal blocks to public sector enterprises and private companies between 2004 and 2009 for captive use in a non-transparent way. The CAG initially estimated a massive loss of Rs 10.6 lakh crore to the exchequer, but its final report tabled in Parliament put the figure at 1.86 lakh crore.