[Coal Scam case] Delhi Court sentences Former Coal Secy HC Gupta to three years imprisonment
Charges of criminal conspiracy and cheating under the Indian Penal Code as well as criminal misconduct by a public servant under the Prevention of Corruption Act were leveled against the accused persons.
A Delhi court sentenced former Coal Secretary HC Gupta to three years of imprisonment on Monday in a coal scam case involving irregularities in the allocation of the Lohara East coal block in Maharashtra.
Special Judge Arun Bhardwaj of the Rouse Avenue Court also sentenced former joint-secretary in the Ministry of Coal (MoC), K S Kropha, to two years of imprisonment and a fine of Rs.50,000, while Gupta was fined rupees one lakh.
Court also sentenced one Mukesh Gupta, the director of the convicted company, Grace Industries Ltd. (GIL), to four years of imprisonment for criminal conspiracy, and cheating and fined him rupees two lakh, and ordered the company to pay a separate rupees two lakh fine.
According to the CBI, between 2005 and 2011, the accused perpetrated a criminal conspiracy and defrauded the MoC, the Government of India, by dishonestly and fraudulently inducing the MoC to allocate the 'Lohara East Coal Block' to GIL based on false information about net worth, capacity, equipment, and the status of plant procurement and installation.
The CBI also stated that the company claimed in its application to have a net worth of Rs 120 crore when it actually had a net worth of Rs 3.3 crore and that the company also falsified its existing capacity as 1,20,000 TPA rather than 30,000 TPA.
HC Gupta was previously convicted in three other coal scam cases, and his appeal against those convictions is currently pending in the Delhi High Court. He is currently out on bail, along with the other defendants in the case.
[Inputs: Business Standard]