According to the CBI, on the basis of inflated production figures and "bogus reports" submitted by PIL, Basak and Chatterjee, the screening committee allotted the captive coal block at Urtan in Madhya Pradesh and at Vijay Central in Chhattisgarh to PIL.
The agency alleged the PIL, in connivance with Hind Energy & Coal Benefication (India) Pvt Ltd and other officials of the Ministry of Coal, the Ministry of Steel and the JPC, got allocated the coal blocks by "using false and fabricated documents."
The CBI told the court that on an application filed by PIL in January 1998, Chotia coal mining block at Chhattisgarh too was allotted to it. It said PIL, through its April 12, 2007 application, again applied for allotment of mining block for its steel plant at Champa in Chhattisgarh for expansion of its capacity and to justify its claim, it filed false and fabricated copies of Central Excise Returns showing inflated production figures from December 2007 to March 2008.
It said the steel ministry directed for verification of PIL after which Basak and Chatterjee visited PIL's plant in September 2008 and submitted their report containing "inflated production figures." The CBI's charge sheet alleged that PIL had mined coal from Chotia mining block in excess and diverted approximately 50% of it to the black market and earned a profit of about Rs22.7 crores.
It said PIL submitted application for allocation of coal block by giving false informations and submitting fabricated documents including excess returns through Chaturvedi.
The court, in its order, also noted that the CBI had already got sanction for prosecuting Basak and Chatterjee under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
