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The CBI has booked former director of the CSIR-Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research P K Singh and Chief Scientist A K Singh for alleged corruption in distribution of intellectual fee amounting to Rs 137 crore for coal-sampling projects, officials said on Monday.
The intellectual fee comprises manpower plus inputs. Manpower is the number of days put in by an individual and inputs refer to the contribution made by the said individual in the project.
The agency registered the FIR on source-based information alleging that ineligible persons, including librarians, doctors and technical officers, were paid the money in the projects for testing the quality of coal to be used by various companies, without their contribution in the respective category of innovators and principal contributors, the officials said.
It is alleged that P K Singh received Rs 15.36 crore while A K Singh received Rs 9.04 crore of the intellectual fee through 304 coal-sampling projects in violation of the CSIR Guidelines for Technological Transfer and Knowledge Base, 2005 and 2017.
The CSIR-CIMFR was appointed as the third-party sampling agency for sampling and analysis of coal to be used by power and coal companies at a meeting on October 28, 2015, chaired by the minister of coal.
Four memoranda of understanding were signed by the institute with coal producers and power companies for a tenure of 10 years, which could be extended by another five years on consent.
“This agreement specifically mentioned the quality of coal to be sampled on a yearly basis and did not stipulate any sub-division of the said agreement into various projects for a shorter period. However, 304 coal-sampling projects were created by the CSIR-CIFMR by combining several agreements into one project.
The CBI has alleged that P K Singh and A K Singh entered into a conspiracy that led to the distribution of Rs 137.79 crore as honorarium, intellectual fee and project fee between 2016 and 2021 to scientists, technical officers and administrative staff of the CIFMR under the coal-sampling projects.
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