Coal scam: SC directs CBI to file fresh status report on probe against ex-CBI chief Ranjit Sinha
New Delhi: The Supreme court Wednesday directed the CBI to file fresh status report within four weeks on probe into the charges of "abuse of official position" by former agency chief Ranjit Sinha and the progress made in over 50 coal scam cases.
A bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde and Deepak Gupta granted time to the agency after it sought time.
Sinha is accused of trying to impede the CBI's investigation into the cases, which emerged in 2012 after a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) was leaked to the media.
The apex court dismissed the plea field by lawyer M L Sharma seeking a direction to the CBI to take coercive steps against Naveen Jindal, allegedly main beneficiary of coal scam cases.
The bench took note of the statement of advocate Amit Anand Tiwari, appearing for the CBI, that probe agency has followed the procedure and did not arrest the accused as that was not necessary.
He further said that as many as 55 regular cases have been registered by the CBI in the coal scam cases and it has taken steps like impounding of certain passports of people if there were apprehensions of absconding.
He said that no arrest has been made as the offences were registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The apex court had earlier asked senior advocate R S Cheema to continue as special public prosecutor (SPP)to conduct trials for the Enforcement Directorate as well in money laundering cases related to the coal block scam.
The top court had been undertaking the exercise to find a replacement of Cheema as SPP for ED cases after he had urged that he be relieved as the prosecutor in money laundering cases.
Cheema, who was appointed the SPP in coal block scam cases in 2014, had said however that he would continue as the SPP for prosecuting coal scam cases filed by the CBI.
The CAG had found discrepancies in coal block allocations made by the previous Manmohan Singh government, which allegedly cost the national exchequer Rs 1.86 lakh crore in losses. The CBI had filed a charge sheet in the case in April 2015.
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'Go back to your own country': Indian-origin taxi driver attacked in Dublin
London, Aug 5 (PTI): An Indian-origin taxi driver based in Ireland for over 23 years has become the latest to be targeted in an unprovoked attack in the capital Dublin, with local police (Gardai) launching an investigation into the violent assault.
Lakhvir Singh, in his 40s, told local media that he picked up two young men in their 20s on Friday night and dropped them at Poppintree, in the Ballymun suburb of Dublin.
Upon arriving at the destination, the men are said to have opened the vehicle door and struck him twice on the head with a bottle. As the suspects fled, they reportedly shouted: "Go back to your own country".
"In 10 years I've never seen anything like this happen," Singh told ‘Dublin Live’.
"I'm really scared now and I'm off the road at the moment. It will be very hard to go back. My children are really scared," he said.
A Dublin police spokesperson said Singh was taken to the city's Beaumont Hospital with injuries determined as not life-threatening.
"Gardaí are investigating an assault reported to have occurred in Poppintree, Ballymun, Dublin 11 at approximately 11:45 pm on Friday, 1st August 2025. A man, aged in his 40s, was brought to Beaumont Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injury. Investigations are ongoing," the spokesperson said.
The incident followed an Indian Embassy advisory, also issued on Friday, expressing safety concerns following recent attacks in and around the capital Dublin and urging Indian citizens to take safety precautions.
"There has been an increase in the instances of physical attacks reported against Indian citizens in Ireland recently,” states the advisory.
“The embassy is in touch with the authorities concerned in Ireland in this regard. At the same time, all Indian citizens in Ireland are advised to take reasonable precautions for their personal security and avoid deserted areas, especially at odd hours," the statement reads, adding emergency embassy contact details as 0899423734 and cons.dublin@mea.gov.in.
It came in the wake of a brutal attack on a 40-year-old Indian man at Parkhill Road in the Tallaght suburb of Dublin on July 19, described as “mindless, racist violence” by locals.
The Gardai had opened an investigation into the case and Indian Ambassador to Ireland Akhilesh Mishra was among those who took to social media to express shock over the attack.
“Regarding the recent incident of physical attack on an Indian national that happened in Tallaght, Dublin, the embassy is in touch with the victim and his family. All the requisite assistance is being offered. The embassy is also in touch with the relevant Irish authorities in this regard,” the embassy said in a social media post days after the incident.
A Stand Against Racism protest was also held by the local community in condemnation of what was described as a "vicious racist attack" and to express solidarity with migrants.
Last week, Dr Santosh Yadav took to LinkedIn to post details of a “brutal, unprovoked racist attack”.
The entrepreneur and AI expert stressed that it was not an isolated incident and called for “concrete measures” from the governments of Ireland and India to ensure Indians feel safe to walk the streets of Dublin.
His post revealed that a group of six teenagers attacked him from behind as he walked to his apartment in Dublin.
“This is not an isolated incident. Racist attacks on Indian men and other minorities are surging across Dublin — on buses, in housing estates, and on public streets. Yet, the government is silent. There is no action being taken against these perpetrators. They run free and are emboldened to attack again,” reads Yadav's post.
Fine Gael party Councillor for Tallaght South, Baby Pereppadan, was among those who expressed concern following last month’s attack.
“People need to understand that many Indian people moving to Ireland are here on work permits, to study and work in the healthcare sector or in IT and so on, providing critical skills,” he said.
Another violent anti-Indian attack in Ireland
— Journalist V (@OnTheNewsBeat) August 5, 2025
Taxi driver Lakhvir Singh was attacked with glass bottles while doing his job pic.twitter.com/mtkwhLWISx
