The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday conducted searches at multiple premises associated with Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) in connection with a case of forex violations. Sources said the raids were carried out in Delhi and Gurugram.
“It is an ongoing investigation where JSPL had made some foreign remittances in violation of RBI guidelines and thus stands in contravention of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA),” an ED official said.
Industrialist and Congress leader from Haryana, Naveen Jindal was booked by the CBI in connection with the coal blocks allocation cases in 2013. He was subsequently chargesheeted by CBI in two separate coal blocks cases in 2016 and 2017. The ED, which carried out money laundering probe against him, has also filed a chargesheet in the case. A
Delhi court last year framed charges against Jindal in one of the cases.
JSPL had earlier courted controversy in the coal blocks allocation scam. It was one of the two private companies to get a coal field in February 2009. JSPL allegedly got the Talcher coal field in Angul with reserves of 150 crore (1,500 million) metric tonnes after the cut-off date by the Central Government, while the government-run Navratna Coal India Ltd was refused.
With turnover of around Rs 40,000 crore, JSPL is part of about Rs 1,30,000 crore diversified OP Jindal Group conglomerate.
