IN THE COURT OF MS. SUNENA SHARMA SPECIAL JUDGE, (PC ACT) (CBI), (COAL BLOCK CASES)-02, ROUSE AVENUE DISTRICT COURT NEW DELHI CNR No. DLCT11-001306-2019 CBI Case No. CBI/316/2019 RC No. 219 2012 E 0009 CBI/EOU-IV/New Delhi dated 27.03.2014 U/s 120-B/420 IPC and Sections 9/13(1)(d)

Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 In the matter of:-

Central Bureau Of Investigation Versus

1. Manoj Kumar Jayaswal S/o Sh. Basant Lal Shaw Director of M/s AMR Iron & Steel Pvt. Ltd. R/o 8^th Floor, J.P. Heights, Byramjji Town, Nagpur, Maharashtra.

2. Vijay Darda S/o Sh. Jawaharlal Darda Ex-Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha)

and Chairman, Lokmat Group, R/o Yavatmal House, Swatantra Senani Jawaharlal Darda Marg, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Marg, Nagpur, Maharashtra.

3. Devendra Darda S/o Sh. Vijay Darda Managing Director of Lokmat Media Pvt. Ltd.

R/o Shubdha, B-Wing, 5^th Floor, Opp. Traffic Police HQs., Sir Pochkhanwala Road, Worli, Mumbai, Maharashtra.

4. M/s AMR Iron & Steel Pvt. Ltd.

Registered Office at F-8, MIDC Industrial Area, Hingna Road, Digitally signed by SUNENA SUNENA SHARMA CBI/316/201

2026.03.27

14:07:43 +0530 Nagpur, Maharashtra.

5. Santosh Bagrodia S/o Sh. Mahabir Prasad Bagrodia Then Minister of State for Coal (Discharged vide order dated 23.07.2019).

6. Harish Chandra Gupta S/o Late Sh. K.L. Gupta Ex- Secretary, Ministry of Coal & Chairman

36^th Screening Committee (Since Retired) R/o 377, Sector-15A, Gautam Budh Nagar Noida, Uttar Pradesh.

7. L.S. Janoti S/o Sh. D.S. Janoti Then Section Officer, CA-I Section, Ministry of Coal (Discharged vide order dated 23.07.2019).

….Accused Persons Date of order on cognizance : 26.05.2017 Date of framing of charge : 02.06.2023 Date of conclusion of arguments : 16.03.2026 Date of judgment : 27.03.2026 INDEX

J U D G M E N T

Introduction

1. This judgment shall dispose of the oldest pending case of this court pertaining to the allocation of Bander Coal Block situated in the State of Maharashtra to M/s AMR Iron & Steel Pvt. Ltd by 36^th Screening Committee of Ministry of Coal, Govt. of India. The instant CBI Case No. CBI/316/2019 is arising out of the chargesheet filed in RC 219 2012 E 0009 dated 27.03.2014. The FIR/RC is the outcome of Preliminary Enquiry No. 219 2012 E 0002 dated 01.06.2012, which was registered by the CBI on the reference made by Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) in the matter of alleged malpractices and corruption in the allocation of coal blocks to private companies by the Ministry of Coal (MoC) during the period 2006-2009.

1.1. The instant RC/FIR was registered under Section 120B read with Section 420 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 (hereinafter referred to in short as ‘IPC’) and under Section 13(2) read with Section 13(1)(d) of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (hereinafter referred to in short as ‘PC Act’’) against M/s AMR Iron & Steel Private Limited (hereinafter referred to in short as ‘AMR’’); its three Directors namely Sh. Arbind Kumar Jayaswal, Sh. Manoj Kumar Jayaswal & Sh. Ramesh Jayaswal; Sh. Devendra Darda; unknown public servants of Ministry of Coal; and other unknown for allocation of Bander Coal Block, Maharashtra to AMR (jointly with M/s J.K. Cement Limited and M/s Century Textiles & Industries Limited) for its proposed End Use Plant (EUP) having capacity of 0.3 Million Tonnes Per Annum (MTPA) of sponge iron at Maharashtra, on the basis of the recommendation of 36^th Screening Committee in its meeting held on 03.07.2008.

General Procedure Adopted at Ministry of Coal for Allocation of Captive Coal Block [

2. Before delving deep into the factual matrix of this case, it is deemed necessary to first note the stepwise procedure adopted by the Ministry of Coal, Government. of India for allocation of captive coal blocks. As per the prevailing policy at the relevant time, the Ministry of Coal, Government of India used to allocate captive coal blocks to the eligible private sector companies for their End Use Plants (EUPs) in steel, cement or power sectors based on the recommendations of Screening Commi