Coal Scam: Delhi High Court Seeks CBI’s Response On Appeal By Former Coal Secretary HC Gupta, IAS KS Kropha Against 3-Yrs-Sentence

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought response of the Central Bureau of Investigation on the appeals moved by former coal secretary H C Gupta and former IAS officer K S Kropha against their conviction and three years sentence in a case related to irregularities in the allocation of a coal block in Chhattisgarh.

Gupta and Kropha were granted bail by the special judge in order to enable them to challenge their conviction before the High Court.

Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma issued notice on the appeals and said that Gupta and Kropha will remain out on bail till final disposal of the matter.

The court admitted the appeals and said that the same will be listed in due course along with the appeals moved by other convicts.

“Issue notice. The counsel for CBI accepts notice. The appeals are admitted and will come for hearing in due course,” the court ordered.

Apart from Gupta and Kropha, former Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Darda, his son Devender Darda and businessman Manoj Kumar Jayaswal were also convicted in the case. The three were awarded four years of sentence by the trial court.

In July, Justice Sharma had granted interim bail to Dardas and Jayaswal while issuing notice on their appeals against conviction and sentence. The trial court had observed that they obtained the block by cheating the government.

The trial court had held the accused persons guilty of criminal conspiracy (Section 120B) and cheating (Section 420) under the Indian Penal Code and other offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The court had also imposed a fine of Rs. 50 lakhs on JLD Yavatmal Energy Pvt Ltd, the entity which was also convicted in the matter.

A fine of Rs. 15 lakhs each was also imposed by the special judge on the Dardas and Jayaswal. The other three convicts were directed to pay a fine of Rs. 20,000 each.

Title: HC Gupta v. CBI and other connected matter