Khaitan & Co successfully secured the acquittal of SKS Ispat & Power Limited and its directors in a CBI coal block allocation case before the Special Judge (PC Act), Rouse Avenue District Court, New Delhi. The court found insufficient evidence to sustain the charges.
Khaitan & Co, a leading Indian law firm, represented SKS Ispat & Power Limited and its directors and successfully secured their acquittal before the Special Judge (PC Act) (CBI) Coal Block Cases at the Rouse Avenue District Court, New Delhi.
The matter arose from a criminal case registered by the CBI.
The prosecution alleged that the company and its promoters/directors criminally conspired and misrepresented material facts to the Screening Committee under the Ministry of Coal in order to obtain allocation of a coal block in favour of SKS Ispat & Power Limited.
After hearing the submissions of both the prosecution and the defence, the Special Judge acquitted the accused persons. In relation to the charge under Section 420 of the IPC, the court noted that the material brought on record was not sufficient to establish the essential ingredients of cheating, including deception, inducement, dishonest intention, or wrongful gain.
On the charge under Section 120B of the IPC, the court held that the prosecution failed to demonstrate any prior meeting of minds among the accused for the alleged offence. The evidence did not establish the existence of a criminal conspiracy against any of the accused.
SKS Ispat & Power Limited and its promoters/directors were represented by Senior Advocate Mr. Pavan Narang, with Atul Shanker Mathur (Partner), Prabal Mehrotra (Counsel), and Umang Katariya (Senior Associate) from Khaitan & Co.