New Delhi: The Supreme Court asked CBI to apprise it whether it has probed the firms which have allegedly diverted coal for commercial exploitation instead of using them for electricity generation in Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPPs). "File a report on this also and update us as to whether any probe in this aspect has been carried out," a three-judge bench comprising justices Madan B Lokur, Kurian Joseph and A K Sikri said.
It also asked senior advocate Amrendra Sharan, appearing for CBI, to inform the bench about the probe, if any, conducted into alleged sub-leasing of coal blocks by public sector undertakings (PSUs) to private firms by entering into a joint ventures (JVs). The court's directions came after lawyer Prashant Bhushan, appearing for NGO 'Common Cause', raised the issue of alleged diversion of coal by Reliance Power for commercial exploitation.
The coal block, meant for company's Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project, was used for other purposes and even CAG has said that this diversion has caused Rs 29,000 crore loss to the state exchequer, he said. Even the bidding process of coal blocks for such projects is different as it is linked to lowest power price offered by the firms, he said.
The counsel, appearing for CBI, told the court that the agency has registered some two-three cases on diversion of coal blocks and sought time for giving complete information as the officer concerned was not available. Meanwhile, the bench asked the apex court registry to provide copies of reports, filed till date by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), to CBI for "necessary action".
CBI also submitted a fresh report in the court giving details of investigation carried so far by it into various coal scam cases. The bench has fixed the matter on May 11 and asked the probe agency, which had earlier said that it would conclude probe in coalgate cases by March 31, to file a status report on that day.
It also asked CBI to "tabulate and do indexing" of all the reports filed by it in the court. Earlier, the apex court had allowed CBI to file charge sheets or closure reports in coal allocation scam cases in which it had earlier restrained the agency to do so in view of allegations against its the then Director Ranjit Sinha.
CBI had said that all the investigation reports are being perused by the apex court-appointed Special Public Prosecutor R S Cheema and the agency be allowed to file reports before the special court. The apex court had on September 19 restrained CBI from filing any charge sheet or closure report in coal scam cases after serious allegations of protecting some accused were levelled against Sinha.
Prior to that, the court had on September 24 quashed allocation of 214 out of 218 coal blocks which were alloted to various companies since 1993 and in which it was claimed that around Rs 2 lakh crores were invested
