Delhi Court Discharges Former Coal Secretary HC Gupta, KS Kropha and Others in Coal Block Case
A Delhi court discharged former Coal Secretary HC Gupta, KS Kropha, RKM Powergen Pvt. Ltd, and three others in the Fatehpur East coal block allocation case, finding no evidence of criminal conspiracy, cheating, or forgery. The court held that the key accusations by the CBI were not substantiated and the allocation was lawful and in public interest.
A Special Judge (PC Act) Dheeraj Mor of the Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi recently exonerated former Coal Secretary HC Gupta, ex-civil servant KS Kropha, RKM Powergen Pvt. Ltd, and three other accused individuals in the coal scam case related to the Fatehpur East Coal Block allocation in Chhattisgarh. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had charged them with criminal conspiracy, cheating, and corruption for allegedly submitting forged documents and misrepresenting facts to secure the coal block. The court, after reviewing the evidence and records including supplementary investigations, found that the prosecution failed to establish any meeting of minds or quid pro quo between the private company and public officials. The court noted no evidence that the accused were aware of any forgery or misrepresentation during the allocation process. It also affirmed that the coal block allocation was made in public interest and that RKM Powergen was a deserving applicant. Consequently, all accused were discharged before the trial could proceed. This discharge marks the fourth such relief for Gupta and Kropha in related coal block cases and reinforces their reputation as upright officers wrongly implicated by the prosecution.
