Special Court Discharges Accused in Coal Block Allocation Case, Debunking ED’s Claims
In a significant development, a Special Court has discharged three accused individuals and a company in a case related to alleged wrongful obtainment of a coal block allocation letter and money laundering. The accused, namely Manoj Jayaswal, Ramesh Jayaswal, and Abhijeet Infrastructure Ltd, were acquitted of all charges after a thorough examination of the evidence.
The case revolved around the Abhijeet Group, which had received share application money and term loans amounting to approximately 650 Crore rupees after securing the allocation of the Brinda, Sisai, and Meral Coal blocks from the Ministry of Coal. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had claimed that the company had inflated its net worth by allotting shares at an excessive premium, thus obtaining substantial loans from banks.
Represented by Advocate Vijay Agarwal, Manoj Jayaswal and Abhijeet Infrastructure Ltd successfully argued before Special Judge Arun Bhardwaj that the ED’s case lacked merit. They contended that the ED had overstepped its authority by presuming the commission of an offense, whereas its powers should be limited to investigating the offense of money laundering within the specified framework.
Advocate Vijay Agarwal further highlighted that the ED’s assumption that investing in company shares automatically generated proceeds of crime was fundamentally flawed. He emphasized that the ED’s attempt to link the CBI case with the ED case was unsustainable, as both cases existed independently without any substantial connection as envisaged in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
The ED argued that the Supreme Court had previously ruled that the allocation letter should be considered proceeds of crime. However, the Court found the ED’s witness statement, which claimed to have invested in the company due to the coal block allocation, to be insubstantial. The witness had invested only a mere 0.01 percent of the alleged amount obtained from the allocation.
Considering the lack of evidence and the successful defense presented by the accused, the Special Court granted the first discharge in any case filed by the Directorate of Enforcement in coal block allocation matters. This ruling sets a precedent for similar cases while emphasizing the importance of maintaining a clear connection between different offenses and avoiding presumptions without sufficient evidence.
It is worth noting that Manoj Kumar Jayaswal has been accused in six cases by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and an equal number of cases by the ED. The discharge in this particular case provides a significant legal relief for him and the other accused individuals.
This verdict showcases the importance of a fair and robust judicial process that thoroughly examines evidence and ensures that justice is served. The discharge of the accused in this case exposes the fragility of the ED’s claims and stresses the need for a diligent assessment of allegations before reaching a final judgment.
