IAS body to provide legal aid to officers convicted in coal case
Conviction of honest IAS officers in Coal Scam is most unfortunate. A black letter day for bureaucracy... THE ASSOCIATION, ON TWITTER
NEW DELHI: Resolving to support former coal secretary HC Gupta and two other officers who were convicted in a case related to alleged irregularities in the allocation of coal blocks in West Bengal, the IAS officers’ association decided on Sunday that its members would contribute from their salaries to fund the legal battle.
Following the conviction of Gupta, widely regarded by those in the service as “honest”, the association called an extraordinary meeting on Sunday where it was decided that legal aid would be provided to the officers, an official said. It was decided that the functionaries would gather again on Monday to discuss the situation after a court hearing in which the quantum of sentence is expected to be announced. Some officers could also visit the court premises in their personal capacity as a mark of solidarity, another member said.
“We will be contributing from our own salaries to provide legal aid,” said Abhishek Chandra, secretary of the association. He said the association was waiting for the final judgment, expected on Monday, before holding further deliberations.
In a statement, the All India Nationalised Bank Officers’ Federation also expressed its support to the IAS officers’ association.
Former Union coal secretary Gupta was convicted along with five others for irregularities in the 2012 allocation of coal blocks in West Bengal. The conviction verdict was handed out by a special CBI court in the national capital. Apart from Gupta, KS Kropha, then a joint secretary in the coal ministry, and KC Samria, who was then a director in the same ministry, were held guilty by the court.
However, the IAS officers’ association had soon after said it would stand by the officers.
“Conviction of honest IAS officers in Coal Scam is most unfortunate. A black letter day for bureaucracy - Convicting officers for bona fide decisions in the interest of administration. We stand by the officers in this time of distress. #Hcgupta,” the association had tweeted.
Explaining the association’s viewpoint, an official, who wished not to be identified, said “there was a view that sometimes the bureaucrat is merely the implementing authority of a policy decision or decisions taken at a much higher level”.
Senior lawyer Karan Singh said a court comes to a conclusion after scrutiny of evidence and giving a fair hearing to the concerned, but the association was within its rights to provide legal aid to the convicted officers.
“The court decisions are purely taken on the basis of evidence available on the file. Decision are taken on the basis of available documents. The evidence undergoes judicial scrutiny and a fair hearing is given to those concerned. Legal processes are adopted. However, being an association of officers, it is their right if they want to extend legal aid. They can also approach a higher court,” said Singh.
Advocate Rahul Tyagi, who appeared for Kropha and Samria, said they were likely to approach the high court. “We have complete faith in the judicial system of the country. We are going to appeal in the high court,” said Tyagi.