Coal scam case: Naveen Jindal granted exemption from personal appearance till Jun 30

New Delhi, Mar 13: Congress leader and industrialist Naveen Jindal, an accused in a coal scam case, was on Wednesday granted exemption from personal appearance in the court till June 30, 2019, as he has to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The case pertains to money laundering in relation to the alleged irregularities in the allocation of Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block in Jharkhand to Jindal Steel and Power Ltd and Gagan Sponge Iron Private Ltd.

A Delhi court had in October last year granted bail to Naveen Jindal and 13 others, accused of money laundering in a case pertaining to alleged irregularities in allocation of a Jharkhand-based coal block.

The Enforcement Directorate had in July last year filed a chargesheet against Jindal, his company JSPL, Gagan Infra and others for allegedly influencing the screening committee to allot Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block by investing more than Rs 2 crore in illegal gratification.

Jindal was also later allowed by a special court to travel abroad for business purposes. The court, however, imposed certain conditions on him after the application was opposed by special public prosecutor N K Matta and advocate Samvedna Verma on behalf of the Enforcement Directorate (ED).