The special CBI court that on Friday convicted former coal secretary H C Gupta, then joint secretary K S Kropha and then director K C Samaria besides others in the case pertaining to alleged irregularities in allocation of Thesgora-B Rudrapuri coal block in Madhya Pradesh to KSSPL, may pronounce the order on quantum of sentence for the guilty officials on Monday - that is today. KSSPL and its former managing director P K Ahluwalia have also been convicted.
According to the court, the three union coal ministry officials made "dishonest misrepresentation" of facts to the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh while recommending the allocation of a coal block in Madhya Pradesh to Kamal Sponge Steel and Power Limited (KSSPL). The court found that the application of KSSPL was "clearly incomplete" as it was not accompanied with all the requisite documents, thus liable to be rejected at the initial stage itself.
"The fact that the then PM of the country Manmohan Singh thought it appropriate to retain the charge of the ministry of coal with himself only, clearly shows as to how important the work of said ministry was," noted special judge Bharat Parashar.
"While forwarding the file to PM as minister of coal for approval of the recommendation of the screening committee, it was nowhere mentioned by any of the MOC officers, much less by accused H C Gupta, that the applications have not been checked for their eligibility and completeness," the court said.
In such a scenario, the court said, there was no reason for the PM to presume that the guidelines issued have not been complied with.
The court observed that the screening committee constituted by the government of India was given the task of verifying the claims of various applicant companies before recommending their names for allotment of coal blocks.
The court said the accused withheld the aspects of non-compliance with the guidelines from the Prime Minister, "knowing fully well" that he would approve allocation on the basis of the recommendation of the screening committee only.
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Coal scam: quantum of sentence to be pronounced today
By IndianMandarins - 2017-05-22 11:15:39
The special CBI court that on Friday convicted former coal secretary H C Gupta, then joint secretary K S Kropha and then director K C Samaria besides others in the case pertaining to alleged irregularities in allocation of Thesgora-B Rudrapuri coal block in Madhya Pradesh to KSSPL, may pronounce the order on quantum of sentence for the guilty officials on Monday - that is today. KSSPL and its former managing director P K Ahluwalia have also been convicted.
According to the court, the three union coal ministry officials made "dishonest misrepresentation" of facts to the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh while recommending the allocation of a coal block in Madhya Pradesh to Kamal Sponge Steel and Power Limited (KSSPL). The court found that the application of KSSPL was "clearly incomplete" as it was not accompanied with all the requisite documents, thus liable to be rejected at the initial stage itself.
"The fact that the then PM of the country Manmohan Singh thought it appropriate to retain the charge of the ministry of coal with himself only, clearly shows as to how important the work of said ministry was," noted special judge Bharat Parashar.
"While forwarding the file to PM as minister of coal for approval of the recommendation of the screening committee, it was nowhere mentioned by any of the MOC officers, much less by accused H C Gupta, that the applications have not been checked for their eligibility and completeness," the court said.
In such a scenario, the court said, there was no reason for the PM to presume that the guidelines issued have not been complied with.
The court observed that the screening committee constituted by the government of India was given the task of verifying the claims of various applicant companies before recommending their names for allotment of coal blocks.
The court said the accused withheld the aspects of non-compliance with the guidelines from the Prime Minister, "knowing fully well" that he would approve allocation on the basis of the recommendation of the screening committee only.
