A special court in Delhi has ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation to conduct an inquiry into why Adani Enterprises and two other companies were allowed to bid for a coal block in Jharkhand’s Jharia, despite not having met the eligibility criteria, The Indian Express reported on Saturday.
The bidding for the coal block took place in 2012. Besides Adani Enterprises, AMR India and Lanco Infratech had also placed their bids which was awarded to Lanco Infratech. In an order passed on Wednesday, Special Judge Arun Bhardwaj directed the CBI to file a report by April 5, when it will hear the case next.
“Needless to say, the further investigation shall not be circumscribed by anything recorded in this order and further investigation may be conducted on other aspects as deemed necessary by the Investigating Officer,” Justice Bhardwaj said in his order, according to Bar and Bench.
In December, the CBI had noted that documents submitted by Adani Enterprises showed that it did not fulfill the eligibility to bid for the coal block. However, the central agency had added that its “investigation was not specifically directed to examine the matter of eligibility of the said company [Adani Enterprises]”.
“The contract was awarded in favour of Lanco Infratech, resultantly the conduct of other companies which unsuccessfully applied for the award of the contract was not subjected to intensive investigation,” the CBI had told the court, according to The Indian Express. “There was no undue favour to the non-awardee companies.”
However, the court noted that if the information given in the documents were not correct, “consequences will obviously follow”.
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