A special court in Delhi on Friday convicted former Coal Secretary HC Gupta, four other people and a private firm of involvement in alleged irregularities in the allocation of coal blocks in West Bengal, ANI reported.
Gupta was held guilty of corruption and criminal conspiracy in the coal allocation scam, PTI reported. Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar also convicted private firm Vikash Metals and Power Limited, its managing director Vikash Patni, authorised signatory Anand Mallick, former joint secretary in Ministry of Coal KS Kropha and a former director in the ministry, KC Samria.
The case relates to alleged irregularities the in allocation of Moira and Madhujore (North and South) coal blocks in West Bengal to Vikash Metals and Power Limited. The Central Bureau of Investigation had registered an FIR in the case in December last year. The court will decide the quantum of punishment on December 3.
Gupta was the chairperson of a screening committee responsible for coal block allocations between 2006 and 2008 under the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance’s rule.
In May 2017, a special court had sentenced Gupta, Kropha and bureaucrat KC Samaria to two years in prison in connection with another case in the scam.
The scam had emerged after the Comptroller and Auditor General found discrepancies in the allocation of coalfields by the Manmohan Singh government that apparently led to the loss of around Rs 1.86 lakh crore to the national exchequer. Jindal Steel and Power Ltd, Hindalco, Essar Power, Tata Steel and Tata Power were among the 25 companies named as beneficiaries by the CAG. Gupta was booked in eight cases related to the scam, according to NDTV.
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