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  India   Coal scam: Charges framed against 6

Coal scam: Charges framed against 6

Published : Oct 23, 2016, 12:42 am IST
Updated : Oct 23, 2016, 12:42 am IST

A CBI court has framed charges against six people, including former coal secretary H.C.

A CBI court has framed charges against six people, including former coal secretary H.C. Gupta, two IAS officers and a private firm, in connection with a case pertaining to the irregularities in the allocation of a coal block to Navbharat Power Private Ltd (NPPL) in Odisha in January 2008.

Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar framed charges against IAS officials K.S. Kropha, K.C. Samria, and private firm Navbharat Power Pvt Ltd (NPPL), now known as Brahmani Thermal Power Pvt. Ltd. (BTPPL), and its chairman P. Trivikrama Prasad and vice-chairman Y. Harish Chandra Prasad.

The court has put them on trial for the offence punishable under sections under sections of 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servants) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under several provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

During the course of framing charges, the accused pleaded not guilty after which the court fixed November 18 as the next date of hearing.

The case pertains to alleged irregularities in allocation of Rampia and dip side of the Rampia coal block in Odisha to NPPL. While Mr Kropha was then joint secretary in the coal ministry (MoC), Mr Samria was the then director (Coal Allocation-I section).

“It is prima facie clear that the false claims or the misrepresentations had the effect of deceiving Screening Committee and thereby the MoC, the Centre so as to induce it to allocate a coal block in favour of company NPPL. In fact, prima facie it is also clear that the ministry of power would not have made any recommendation in favour of NPPL to MOC if no such false claim as regard its net-worth or land would have been made,” the court had said on the last date of hearing.

The court had on August 19, 2015 granted bail to the accused after they appeared before it in pursuance to summons.

The CBI, in its chargesheet, alleged the accused had misrepresented facts, including inflated net worth, to bag the coal block. It alleged that NPPL fraudulently claimed in its application that it was supported by Globeleq Singapore Pvt. Ltd., Navbharat Ventures Ltd. and Mahalaxmi Group Ltd.

Location: India, Delhi, New Delhi