Delhi High Court Grants Interim Bail To Former Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Darda, Son In Coal Scam Case

The Delhi High Court on Friday granted interim bail to former Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Darda, his son Devender Darda and businessman Manoj Kumar Jayaswal who were recently convicted and sentenced to four years of imprisonment in a coal scam case.

Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma issued notice on the pleas moved by Dardas and Jayaswal against the trial court order convicting and sentencing them in the case.

The court sought response of the Central Bureau of Investigation and directed the probe agency to file its response within eight weeks.

Dardas and Jayaswal were convicted in a case related to irregularities in the allocation of a coal block in Chhattisgarh. The trial court had observed that they obtained the block by cheating the government.

The trial court had also awarded three years of sentence to former coal secretary H C Gupta and two other other former officials namely K S Kropha and K C Samria. The three individuals were granted bail by the special judge to enable them to challenge their conviction before the High Court.

The trial court had held the accused persons guilty of criminal conspiracy (Section 120B) and cheating (Section 420) under the Indian Penal Code and other offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The court had also imposed a fine of Rs. 50 lakhs on JLD Yavatmal Energy Pvt Ltd, the entity which was also convicted in the matter.

A fine of Rs. 15 lakhs each was also imposed by the special judge on the Dardas and Jayaswal. The other three convicts were directed to pay a fine of Rs. 20,000 each.

Title: VIJAY DARDA v. CENTRAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Del) 635