Thursday, Apr 25, 2024 | Last Update : 05:28 AM IST
Court to Madhu Koda: Was plea to call ex-PM filed for fun
Did you want to summon former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh “simply for fun ” a special court on Monday asked ex-Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda after taking exception to alleged inconsistencies i
Did you want to summon former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh “simply for fun ” a special court on Monday asked ex-Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda after taking exception to alleged inconsistencies in his submissions regarding conspiracy in a coal block allocation scam case.
“Was it simply for fun that you had moved that application for summoning the former Prime Minister ” special CBI judge Bharat Parashar asked Mr Koda’s counsel when he was arguing on framing of charges in the case.
The court asked this after Mr Koda’s counsel Anshuman Sinha argued that there was no conspiracy as alleged by CBI in its chargesheet in the case.
“Please co-relate your that application (in which he had sought summoning of Manmohan Singh and two others as accused in the case) with the arguments on framing of charges now. You had then said there was a conspiracy but now you are saying there was no conspiracy,” the court noted.
Responding to the court’s query, Mr Koda’s counsel said that while arguing on the plea to summon Dr Singh as an accused, he had only said that as per CBI’s case there was a conspiracy.
“I have only said that if at all there was any conspiracy then he (Dr Singh) should be called as well. CBI cannot have different yardsticks,” he told the court. The court had earlier dismissed Mr Koda’s plea seeking to summon Dr Singh and two others as additional accused in the case relating to alleged irregularities in allocation of Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block in Jharkhand to Jindal Group firms — Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) and Gagan Sponge Iron Private Ltd (GSIPL).
During the arguments on Monday, Mr Koda’s counsel said there was no evidence suggesting any conspiracy as far as his client was concerned.
“I have to have the knowledge first which could bring me under the ambit of conspiracy. There is no knowledge on my part.... There is nothing to show that Koda had any knowledge of the alleged illegal act and there was no intention to act in its furtherance as well,” he said.
