New Delhi, Nov 3 A Delhi court has discharged former Coal Secretary H.C. Gupta, former Joint Secretary (Coal) K.S. Kropha, and three others in a corruption case linked to alleged irregularities in the allocation of the Fatehpur East coal block in Chhattisgarh.
Special Judge Dheeraj Mor of the Rouse Avenue District Court passed the order after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a chargesheet, accusing the former government officials, as well as firm RKM Powergen and its director and managing director, of criminal conspiracy, cheating, and corruption under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Prevention of Corruption Act.
In its order, the court said that there was no prima facie evidence to suggest criminal intent on the part of Gupta, Kropha, or the members of the 35th Screening Committee, which had recommended the allocation of the Fatehpur East coal block to RKM Powergen.
It added that the allocation was made after due consideration of the recommendations of the Union Ministry of Power and the Chhattisgarh government.
The CBI had alleged that RKM Powergen obtained the coal block by submitting false claims about its financial strength and preparedness in setting up the proposed power plant, and that senior officers in the Coal Ministry failed to scrutinise its documents.
The prosecution also accused the company of using forged documents, including consent letters for land acquisition and a bogus detailed project report. Holding that the accusations did not warrant the framing of charges, the court ordered the discharge of all five accused.
“All five accused persons, namely (i) M/s R.K.M. Powergen Pvt Ltd; (ii) Smt. Dr Andal Arumugam; (iii) Sh. T.M. Singaravel; (iv) Sh. Harish Chandra Gupta; and (v) Sh. Kuljeet Singh Kropha, are entitled to be discharged for the respective offences alleged against them in the charge sheet. Accordingly, they all are ordered to be discharged,” the order read.
This marks another relief for former Coal Secretary Gupta, who has been tried in multiple coal block allocation cases.
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