Former Jharkhand Chief Minister and coal scam accused Madhu Koda on Thursday joined the Congress, days after his wife Geeta Koda joined the Opposition party, PTI reported. State party chief Dr Ajoy Kumar welcomed the former chief minister to the party.

Koda, a former Bharatiya Janata Party MLA, served as the state’s chief minister from 2006 to 2008 after winning the Assembly election as an independent candidate from Jaganathpur in 2005.

On August 31, a Delhi court framed charges of corruption, criminal conspiracy and cheating against him in connection with alleged violations in the allocation process for the Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block in the state. Koda pleaded not guilty.

The case is related to the allocation of a coal block to the Kolkata-based Vini Iron and Steel Udyog Ltd or Visul, NDTV reported. The CBI told the court that the Jharkhand government and steel ministry did not recommend the allocation of the Rajhara coal block to Visul when the company applied for it in 2007. The CBI claimed that Koda and other accused conspired to favour Visul in the allocation.