Delhi court imposes over Rs 1 crore fine in coal block case

A special CBI court has imposed Rs 1 crore fine on a company and sentenced its managing director to three years in jail over alleged irregularities in the allocation of a coal block in Jharkhand.

Special judge Sanjay Bansal handed out the jail term to JAS Infrastructure & Capital Pvt Ltd then managing director Manoj Kumar Jayaswal while imposing Rs 1 crore fine on the company over irregularities in the allocation of Mahuagarhi coal block in Jharkhand.

In an order on July 8, the court said, "The present case relates to the allocation of a coal block. The convicts (company and its director) had obtained the said block by committing cheating with the government of India."


The court agreed with the CBI's deputy legal advisor who said the "loss to the nation was huge".

"Manoj Kumar Jayaswal is sentenced to rigorous imprisonment (RI) for three years and to pay a fine of Rs five lakh for the offence punishable under Sections 120-B/420 of the IPC. He is further sentenced to RI for three years and to pay a fine of Rs five lakh for the substantive offence punishable under Section 420 of the IPC," the court said adding that the sentences would run concurrently.

It also imposed a fine of Rs 50 lakh each on the company for the offence of criminal conspiracy to commit cheating and for the offence of cheating.

Following the sentence, Jayaswal moved an application for suspension of his sentence to enable him to file an appeal in the Delhi High Court.

"Sentence of imprisonment awarded to convict shall remain suspended for 60 days and he is admitted to bail upon his furnishing a personal bond and a surety bond of Rs one lakh each," the court held.

The convict could not travel abroad unless specific permission was granted by the high court, the court added.