Delhi Court Acquits Ex-Secy, Firm & 4 Others In Odisha Coal Scam Case

New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi has acquitted six accused, including former coal secretary H C Gupta and two other public servants, in the alleged 2012 scam related to allocation of two coal blocks in Odisha.

Special judge Sanjay Bansal ruled that the central agency failed to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that any “misrepresentation” was made by the accused. No case of cheating was also made out as no one was induced.

The court further noted that accused public servants cannot be held accountable when the company which got the coal block, followed proper processes and was eligible. “When the application (by NPPL) has been found to be complete and the applicant has been found to be an eligible applicant, and allocation was recommended to a company which had recommendation from MoP (ministry of power) and state govt of Odisha, the accused public servants cannot be held accountable for any offence. For any lapse on their part, the accused public servants may be administratively liable but are certainly not criminally liable, in the facts and circumstances of the present case,” it said.

The two senior officials are K S Kropha, former joint secretary, and K C Samria, former director in the coal allocation section of the ministry. The other accused include Navabharat Power Pvt Ltd, its then chairman P Trivikrama Prasad and then managing director Y Harish Chandra Prasad.

They were absolved of charges under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (PC Act) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

According to the CBI, the accused had hatched a criminal conspiracy in 2006-08 by making  false claims over the land and company’s net worth in the application and feedback forms, and induced the ministry to allocate the coal blocks. The company made fraudulent misrepresentations through Y Harish Chandra Prasad which, as per the authorisation of chairman P Trivikrama Prasad, regarding its net worth and the land for the allocation of coal blocks Rampia and Dipside of Rampia in Odisha, it added.

(With inputs from PTI)