New Delhi: A court here Saturday sentenced former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda to three years in jail for corruption in a coal block allocation case.
Special judge Bharat Parashar also sent Koda’s close aide Vijay Joshi, former Coal Secretary HC Gupta and Jharkhand’s then Chief Secretary AK Basu, to jail for three years.
It also imposed a fine of `25 lakh each on Koda and Joshi and a fine of `1 lakh each on Gupta and Basu.
The court December 13 had held Koda, Joshi, Gupta, Basu and private company Vini Iron and Steel Udyog Ltd (VISUL) guilty of criminal conspiracy and cheating under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The court imposed a fine of `50 lakh on VISUL.
The court’s order came in the case related to Jharkhand’s Rajhara North coal block allocation to VISUL.The CBI has urged the court to award the maximum seven-year jail term to Koda and others after they were convicted in the case.
The agency said they were criminals holding high offices and considering their official position and conduct, there was no sufficient ground for leniency.
The convicts, however, have sought leniency from the court.
The judge had acquitted four persons – VISUL’s director Vaibhav Tulsyan, two public servants Basant Kumar Bhattacharya and Bipin Bihari Singh, and chartered accountant Navin Kumar Tulsyan – of all charges.
PTI