All the accused plead not guilty and claimed trial. Special Judge, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Bharat Parashar fixed September 19 for commencement of trial.
It seems troubles for former coal secretary HC Gupta are far from over, as a special court here on Friday framed fresh charges against him in connection with the coal scam. A special court here today levelled corruption charges against Gupta and five others in the alleged irregularities during coal block allocation between 2004-2009. Besides HC Gupta, who was also the chairman of the screening committee, the court also framed charges against a private firm Vikash Metals and Power Ltd (VMPL), K S Kropha, then Joint Secretary in Ministry of Coal (MoC), K C Samria, the then Director of MoC, Vikash Patni, Managing Director (MD) of VMPL, and its Authorised Signatory Anand Mallick.
Charges under sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 409 which pertains to criminal breach of trust by public servants, 420 (cheating) and under sections 13(1)(c) and 13(1)(d) (criminal misconduct by public servants) under the Prevention of Corruption Act have been framed against the accused.
All the accused plead not guilty and claimed trial. Special Judge, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Bharat Parashar fixed September 19 for commencement of trial.
Earlier in the week, Gupta who is facing nine cases in the alleged coal scam broke down in court and applied to withdraw his bail bond and defence counsel. Gupta also refused to accept the court's offer to avail an Amicus Curiae or an advocate from New Delhi Legal Aid Services Authority (NDLASA).
In his application, filed in another case – Kamal Sponge Steel and Power Ltd (KSSPL), Gupta claimed that his conscience is clear since he acted in good faith in the best interest to increase coal production. Gupta, was given time from the court to rethink his decision
Gupta submitted, "They (CBI) seem to be looking for and truing to interpret the documents for prosecutable evidence rather than trying to ascertain the truth." Gupta maintained that he has always maintained the highest level of integrity and words like "conspiracy, corruption, criminal misconduct or dishonest action are totally alienable."
Gupta claimed that misleading the then Prime Minister and Minister of Coal Manmohan Singh was unimaginable and the decision to withdraw his personal bond (given at the time of getting bail) has been in the making since more than a year – when he was accused in the first coal case.
The former coal secretary added that he was an old man suffering from many diseases and it was possible he would not survive the entire duration of the trial. He also said that the pension he receives from the government is enough for a comfortable life, but in no way enough to pay the mounting legal fees required to fight the battle.
This application filed by Gupta earlier this week is applicable only in the KSSPL case for the moment. However, Gupta told the court that he would file a similar application for the rest of the cases.
The VMPL case pertains to alleged irregularities in allocation of Moira and Madhujore (North and South) coal blocks in West Bengal.
In March 2014, a draft report released by the Comptroller Audit General (CAG) stated that the government exchequer lost Rs 1.86 crore because it chose to allot the coal blocks to private entities and Public Sector Units (PSU) instead of auctioning it during the years 2004-2009. However in 2012, following a complaint lodged by Bharatiya Janata Part (BJP) – the opposition party at the time, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) initiated an inquiry to probe allegations of corruption. Consequently, an First Information Report (FIR) report was filed by the probe agency that accused almost a dozen firms overstating their net worth, failing to disclose prior coal allocations, and hoarding rather than developing coal allocations.
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