CBI court frames charges against Odisha MLA Dilip Ray in coal scam case

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
New Delhi, Apr 26:

A special CBI court here today framed charges against former Union Minister of State for Coal in National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government and Odisha MLA Dilip Ray for his alleged involvement in coal block allocation case.

Ray was present in the court while framing of charges against him. Besides, the court also framed charges against three other accused involved in the coal scam. They are: the then Additional Secretary Pradip Kumar Banerjee, former advisor (projects) in the Ministry of Coal Nitya Nand Gautam and Castron Technologies Limited and its Director Mahendra Kumar Agarwalla, reports said.

The hearings in the case would commence from August, reports added.

The case pertains to the alleged irregularities in Brahmadiha coal block in Jharkhand to Castron Technologies Limited in 1999 while Ray was a minister in the erstwhile NDA government.

“While I was the minister, MP PK Agarwal had brought the coal block allocation proposal. I had sent it to the ministry for re-examining it. Screening Committee recommends allotment of coal blocks where I wasn’t a member of it then. CBI has wrongly mentioned it as a recommendation from my side. It was political vendetta of the UPA government to drag me in the case. As I have faith in legal system, I haven’t filed a discharge petition. I hope to get clean chit from the court,” Rourkela BJP MLA Dilip Ray said.