NEW DELHI: A Delhi court Wednesday acquitted six accused, including a former coal secretary and two other public servants, in an alleged coal scam case related to allocation of blocks in Odisha, reports Vineet Upadhyay.
Special judge Sanjay Bansal acquitted former coal secretary Harish Chandra Gupta, former joint secretary in ministry of coal K S Kropha, and former director in the coal allocation section of the ministry K C Samria, noting accused public servants cannot be held accountable when Navbharat Power Pvt Ltd, the company which got the coal block, followed proper processes and was eligible.
No case of cheating made out in Odisha coal scam: Court
When the application (by NPPL) has been found to be complete and the applicant has been found to be an eligible applicant, and allocation was recommended to a company which had recommendation from MoP (ministry of power) and state govt of Odisha, the accused public servants cannot be held accountable for any offence. For any lapse on their part, the accused public servants may be administratively liable but are certainly not criminally liable, in the facts and circumstances of the present case,” the court concluded.
The court, taking note that the company received various permissions from different authorities and made substantial progress in the development of the coal block as well as completion of its power project, said that these factors showed that the organisation was a competent company and allocation of the coal block to it was not a wrong decision.
The court noted that no case of cheating was made out as no one was induced as the “application has been found to be complete, when the applicant company NPPL has been found to be an eligible company, and when no misrepresentations were made by the company, no question arises for the existence of any conspiracy. It is held that the prosecution has failed to prove any conspiracy.”
It also acquitted NPPL, the name of which later changed to Brahmani Thermal Power Private Limited (BTPPL), its then chairman P Trivikrama Prasad, and then managing director (MD) Y Harish Chandra Prasad. It acquitted all six accused of the charges, including IPC sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating), and sections under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The case relates to the said company obtaining coal blocks in Odisha’s Rampia, Dipside of Rampia, and Mandakini between 2006 and 2008 by allegedly misrepresenting its financial strength, net worth and land holdings.
An FIR was registered under sections of Prevention of Corruption Act along with relevant provisions of IPC in Sept 2012 on a reference made by Central Vigilance Commission (CVC).