Excoal secy Gupta gets 2year jail, bail

Court imposes fine of ₹1 lakh on him and two others for irregularities in allocation of coal block in MP

A special court on Monday sentenced former coal secretary HC Gupta and two serving bureaucrats – KS Kropha and KC Samria – to two years’ imprisonment in a coal scam case.

The court also imposed a fine of ₹1 lakh on each of the three convicts in the case, which pertained to irregularities in the allocation of a Madhya Pradesh coal block to a private firm.

Gupta was the coal secretary from December 2005 to November 2008 in the Union ministry of coal. Kropha and Samria occupied the positions of joint secretary and director respectively.

Kropha currently serves as the Meghalaya chief secretary while Samria is the joint secretary in the minority affairs ministry. They have become the first public servants to be convicted and sentenced in the coal block allocation scam.

The court also imposed a fine of ₹1 crore on the Madhya Pradesh-based Kamal Sponge Steel and Power Ltd (KSSPL), which was the beneficiary of the Thesgora-B/Rudrapuri coal block’s allocation. KSSPL managing director Pawan Ahluwalia has been awarded three years in jail, besides a penalty of ₹30 lakh.

While pronouncing the order, the court observed that Gupta, Kropha and Samria had entered into a “criminal conspiracy” with KSSPL authorities to

ensure that the coal block was allotted to the private firm. However, all the convicts were granted bail on a personal bond of ₹1 lakh, and one surety of a like amount.

The counsels appearing for the convicts said the bail will enable them to move the high court against the special court’s order.