A SPECIAL CBI Court in Delhi on Thursday awarded three years rigorous imprisonment (RI) to industrialist Mohan Agrawal and two years RI to Rakesh Agrawal, both directors of Nagpur-based M/s B S Ispat Ltd for cheating and criminal conspiracy in a case related to irregularities in the allocation of a coal block in the state. Special Judge Sanjay Bansal imposed a fine of Rs 50 lakh on the convicted company, B S Ispat Ltd. The Special Court also imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh each on both of them. Mohan Agrawal (73) is the former President of Vidarbha Industries Association. Rakesh Agrawal (49) is Mohan’s nephew. They were held guilty under sections 420 (Cheating) and 120-B (Criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code by the court, which noted that the prosecution proved the case beyond any reasonable doubt. The judge refused to release them on probation, saying “The cheating committed in the present case was not any ordinary cheating.”

 

“The efforts of the convicts were aimed at securing allocation of the coal block at any cost. They were successful in securing allocation of the coal block. They got access to a prime source of energy i.e Coal which was a natural resource. “The importance of coal need not be described in words. Thus, despite strenuous arguments of counsel for the convicts, I am not persuaded to accept that this is a fit case for granting benefit of probation,” the judge said. The judge, however, noted that the two convicts had exited the company in the year 2011 and the benefits of the allocation were practically enjoyed by the company and successor directors and not by these two. The judge further noted that Mohan Agrawal was suffering from various ailments and his younger son was also ill and dependent on his father. Regarding Rakesh Agrawal, the judge noted that he joined the family business at a young age after his father's death and that “it is natural that he must have worked under influence of his uncle Mohan Agrawal.” “Though he was working under control and guidance of convict Mohan Agrawal, it cannot be said that he did not know what he was doing,” the judge added.

 

The judge said while personal circumstances of the convicts must be given due consideration, at the same time, the crime in question also cannot be forgotten. “The fact that an offence of cheating was committed with the Government of India also cannot be lost sight of. The convicts deserve some lenient view but at the same time they need to be reminded that what they did was an offence of serious nature, unworthy of granting benefit of probation. Hence they deserve to be sentenced to imprisonment and fine,” the judge said. This was the 16th case related to the coal scam in which the court pronounced its judgment. The case pertains to irregularities in the allocation of ‘Marki Mangli-I’ coal block situated in Maharashtra in favour of the company.The offence carried a maximum punishment of a seven-year jail term. The CBI prosecution team examined as many as 31 witnesses in the case. The Special Judge had convicted Mohan Agrawal, Rakesh Agrawal and their company on May 27 and the sentence was pronounced on Thursday. The prosecution was represented by Special Public Prosecutor R S Cheema, Additional Legal Advisor Sanjay Kumar and Adv A P Singh.