Jharkhand court rejects Koda’s bail plea

RANCHI - A special vigilance court rejected a bail petition of former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda here on Friday.

Koda is currently in judicial custody.

He was arrested on November 30, 2009 in connection with a disproportionate assets case.

Judge Binoy Kant Khan has dismissed the petition filed by Koda.

Koda’s arrest came following a report filed by social worker Durga Oraon.

Oraon moved vigilance cell accusing Koda and some of his ex-cabinet members of acquiring wealth beyond their known sources of income.

He has also named former Jharkhand ministers-Enos Ekka, Harinarayan Rai and Kamlesh Singh.

All of these are under judicial custody along with Koda.

Koda is also facing illegal investment and money laundering charges running into several crores of rupees.

The Income Tax (IT) Department and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) are jointly investigating the case.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court has stayed vigilance and enforcement inquiries against Binod Kumar, a businessman alleged to be involved along with Koda in the Rs 2,000-crore hawala and illegal investments scam.

A three judge Bench of the apex court also issued notice to the Jharkhand Government in this regard.

The order came on a petition filed by Kumar challenging the Jharkhand High Court’s refusal, through separate orders passed from May 2009 to April 2010, to delete his name from the list of ccused persons under investigation for their suspected roles in the scam and their disproportionate assets. (ANI)