Bengal coal smuggling case: Charge-framing at special CBI court postponed till July

Kolkata: The framing of charges in the coal smuggling case at a special CBI court in West Bengal’s Asansol area in West Burdwan District was postponed on Tuesday till July 3.

The process was delayed because of the absence of the three accused in the case.

One of the three accused, Binay Mishra has been absconding for a long time.

As per information available with the CBI, he is currently settled in Vanuatu Island where he has taken citizenship after surrendering his Indian passport.

Apart from him, Joydeb Mondal and Narayan Kharge are the two other accused who were absent at the special court on Tuesday.

Their counsels informed the court that they could not be present physically because of ill-health.

The next date for the process of charge-framing in the case is July 3 and the judge ruled that all the accused should be present in court on that day.

The CBI has submitted two supplementary chargesheets at the special court in the matter.

On Tuesday, the CBI’s counsel informed the court that they will file another supplementary chargesheet in the matter by the next date of hearing and some new names would be included in it.

However, the judge questioned the reason for filing a fresh supplementary chargesheet in the last stage of the investigation.

In the previous chargesheets 43 individuals were named apart from some corporate entities, some of which have already been declared as bankrupt.