Coal scam: Ex-coal secretary HC Gupta, two other formere bureaucrats were convicted last week (File)
Former Coal Secretary
HC Gupta and two former bureaucrats convicted of corruption in a coal scam case by a special CBI court last week were sentenced to two years in jail today. The case, related to the allocation of a coal mining block in Madhya Pradesh to a private company, is the first in which top bureaucrats have been held guilty in any coal scam case.
The two others held guilty are KS Kropha, who was Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Coal, and KC Samria, who was a director in charge of coal allocation.
Mr Gupta, 69, who chaired a screening committee that cleared at least 40 cases of coal mining rights, had been accused of playing a leading role in the massive swindle. HC Gupta said that then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had given "final approval" in the case - a claim the Central Bureau of Investigation had dismissed. Dr Singh, the investigating agency said, was kept in the dark and misled, even though he was heading the coal ministry at the time.
Coal scam: HC was accused of not following a transparent auctioning system
The former top bureaucrat was accused of not following a transparent auctioning system and causing losses running into crores to the taxpayer. He was booked in as many as eight cases.
Mr Gupta had requested the court for a joint trial of the cases against him, citing his advancing age and precarious finances. But his petition was rejected as the court said the cases were at different stages.
Last year, he made headlines when he tearfully told a CBI court that he would rather face trial from inside jail than be out on bail since he could no longer afford his legal defence. He said that his "inner voice" had told him "god wants me to be in jail." He later withdrew his application to cancel bail.