Ex-coal secy given 3-yr jail term, IAS body to back legal challenge

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Wednesday sentenced former coal secretary HC Gupta and two other government officials to three years’ imprisonment and awarded four-year jail terms to two company executives after finding all five guilty of wrongdoing in coal block allocations under the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

After the sentences were pronounced, the IAS Officers Association said it has initiated steps to raise funds to provide legal assistance to the convicted civil servants. “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 tweeted.

Special judge Bharat Parashar also imposed a fine of ~50,000 on Gupta and the two other government officials – KS Kropha and KC Samria. He also levied a fine of ~25 lakh on Vikash Patni, managing director of Vikash Metals and Power Limited (VMPL), and ~2 lakh on Anand Mallick, the authorised signatory of the company. The court also imposed a fine of ~50,000 on VMPL for its role in the allocations. The three former bureaucrats were granted bail on a personal bond of ~1 lakh and a surety of an equal amount.

CONTINUED ON P 13 MUMBAI: Clearances for several infrastructure projects that pass through the eco-sensitive zones, the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) and the Tungareshwar Wild Life Sanctuary (TWLS) — including the proposed Mumbaiahmedabad bullet train line — have been put on hold till an expert panel studies their impact on the wildlife habitat, the Maharashtra State Board of Wildlife, headed by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, said on Wednesday.

Fadnavis set up a committee under additional chief secretary, Praveen Pardeshi, to study the impact of development projects passing through the two sanctuaries and set down ways to mitigate them.

The wildlife board, against the backdrop of the killing of the alleged man-eating tigress Avni in Yavatmal, also announced it would frame a policy to tackle growing incidents of man-animal conflicts in the state.

Among the key projects passing through the two green lungs are the ₹1.08 lakh crore Mumbaiahmedabad bullet train, the 126-km Virar-alibaug multimodal corridor, the Railways’ dedicated freight corridor, a natural gas pipeline and the GoregaonMulund tunnel.

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