THE JHARKHAND STORY DESK
New Delhi, Feb 8: In a coal block allocation case involving the allocation of coal blocks Hutar and Hurilong located in the state of Jharkhand, the Special Court has ordered the framing of charges under various sections against M/s Contisteel Ltd (a group company of Rathi Super Steel Ltd.); HC Gupta, the then secretary of the ministry of coal and KS Kropha, the then joint secretary of the ministry of coal.
On March 5, 2024, formal charges will be framed against the accused individuals.
The charges
In a judgment dated February 6, 2024, Special Judge Sanjay Bansal declared that a case for framing charge under section 120-B r/w section 420 IPC and section 13(2) r/w section 13(1)(d)(iii) PC Act is made out against each and every accused individual.
Additionally, the company faces a charge for a substantive offense under Section 420/511 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
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Furthermore, HC Gupta and KS Kropha are charged with a substantive offense under PC Act sections 13(2) r/w 13(1)(d)(iii).
In its order, the court declared that conspiracies are often hatched in secret. The timeline of events makes it abundantly evident that the acts and omissions of the accused were related to one another and coherent, proving the existence of a conspiracy.
Fraudulent coal block allocation
The Ministry of Coal, Government of India, was defrauded, and a coal block allocation offer letter dated August 5, 2008, was acquired. Public officials granted unwarranted advantages to the private accused individuals. The Court asserted that this is a suitable case for conspiracy charges to be applied.
In court, it was argued that Gupta and Kropha failed to adhere to published guidelines and neglected to ensure the fair application of inter-se merits, resulting in the recommendation of an ineligible company for coal block allocation.
It was also presented to the Court that H C Gupta misled the then Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, by indicating that the company had received strong recommendations from the state of Jharkhand, despite opposition from the state regarding the allocation of coal blocks to this company.
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