New Delhi: A Delhi Court on Monday sent former Coal Secretary HC Gupta to three years in prison and slapped a fine of Rs 1 lakh on him in a coal scam case related to irregularities in the allocation of the Lohara East coal block in Maharashtra.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) submitted that between 2005 and 2011 the accused persons hatched a criminal conspiracy and cheated MoC, the Government of India by dishonestly and fraudulently inducing the MoC to allocate ‘Lohara East Coal Block’ in favor of GIL on the basis of false information about net worth, capacity, equipment, and status of procurement and installation of the plant.
The CBI had registered a case under section 120B read with 420 of Indian Penal Code and 13(2) read with 13(1) (d) of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and filled a charge sheet on October 28, 2014.
The court took cognizance on August 10, 2015, and convicted the accused persons on July 29, 2022.
Special Judge Arun Bhardwaj after hearing an argument on the quantum of the sentence sent Gupta to three years in jail.
The court handed two years imprisonment to K S Kropha, Former Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Coal (MoC) along with a fine of Rs 50,000.
It also handed four years imprisonment to Mukesh Gupta, the Director of the convicted company, Grace Industries Ltd. (GIL) for criminal conspiracy and cheating along with a fine of Rs 2 lakh.
