Coal Scam case: Delhi Court acquits ex-Coal Secretary HC Gupta, others

A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Delhi on Wednesday acquitted former Secretary of the Union Ministry of Coal (MoC) HC Gupta along with senior MoC officials KS Kropha and KC Samria in a 2012 corruption case related to Coal scam [CBI v Y. Harish Chandra Prasad & Ors.]..The senior MoC officials were booked for having been part of a criminal conspiracy to facilitate M/s Navabharat Power Pvt. Ltd. (NPPL) to get undue advantage in the allocation of the coal blocks in Odisha by not scrutinizing its false claims and misrepresentations..Special Judge Sanjay Bansal absolved the three senior officials of their charges under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (PC Act) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The Court also acquitted the company NPPL along with its Managing Director Y Harish Chandra Prasad and Chairman P Trivikrama Prasad who had been accused in the same case for offences under the PC Act and IPC. The Court noted that the accused public servants could not be held liable for any offence since NPPL's application was found to be complete, the company was found eligible and their allocation had been recommended government authorities that included the Ministry of Power (MoP) and the State Government of Odisha."It is thus held that no offence u/s 13(1)(d)(iii) PC Act is made out against any accused public servants," the Court noted in its order. As regards the acquittal of NPPL and its top officials, the Court noted that the prosecution failed to prove any conspiracy on the part of the company in relation to making misrepresentations. "When the application has been found to be complete, when the applicant company NPPL has been found to be eligible company and when no misrepresentations were made by the company, no question arises for existence of any conspiracy. It is held that prosecution has failed to prove any conspiracy. In view of the above discussion, all the accused are hereby acquitted of all the charges", the Court added. .As per allegations, NPPL had obtained coal blocks at Rampia, Dipside of Rampia and Mandakini in the State of Odisha by making fraudulent misrepresentations regarding its financial strength, including false claims about its net worth and land, which was a significant criteria to qualify for the said allocation. These misrepresentations were allegedly made by NPPL officials Y Harish Chandra Prasad with authorization from Chairman P Trivikrama Prasad.It was alleged that, despite these fraudulent claims, the officials of MoC did not scrutinize NPPL's application and thus facilitated the company in getting undue advantage in allocation of the coal blocks..However, after considering the submissions made before it, the Court acquitted all six accused persons. .Advocates Rahul Tyagi and Mathew M Philip represented the senior MoC officials. Advocates Shri Singh Yogesh Raavi, Bhawani Gupta, KV Pawan Kumar Surabhi Vaya represented NPPL MD Y Harish Chandra Prasad.Advocates Arshdeep Singh Khurana, Faraz Maqbool, Akshat Gupta, Chandan Kumar, Sulakshan S Vedartham, Manan Khanna and A Sahitya Veena represnted NPPL Director Trivikrama Prasad.Advocate Sanjay Abott represented NPPL. Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) and Senior Advocate RS Cheema with advocates Akash and Akshay Nagrajan and Public Prosecutor (PP) VK Pathak appeared for CBI.In July 2023, the three officials were found guilty in another coal scam case and were sentenced to undergo three years of imprisonment along with a fine of ₹10,000 each by the same judge.However, in August 2023, they were granted bail by the Delhi High Court in that case..[Read Order]