SC disposes of plea against Prashant Bhushan in Coalgate

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today disposed of a plea against lawyer Prashant Bhushan that he should not represent an NGO in a PIL on coal blocks allocation scam case owing to his alleged conflict of interest.

It was alleged in an application that Bhushan was a member of India Against Corruption (IAC) which had received donations to the tune of Rs 20 lakh from a company of which one Sitaram Jindal, uncle of Congress leader Naveen Jindal, was a part.

The plea also alleged one of the firms of Jindal was under the CBI scanner in the case and hence Bhushan had a conflict of interest.

"Prashant Bhushan appearing for petitioner Common Cause submits that he has no conflict of interest whatsoever in the case and is entitled to appear for the petitioner NGO.

"In view of the statement...the application is disposed of accordingly," a bench headed by Justice R M Lodha said while deciding on the plea filed by advocate M L Sharma, one of the petitioners in the coal block case.