Coal scam: Special CBI court acquits former Coal Secretary Gupta

A special CBI court on Thursday acquitted former Coal Secretary HC Gupta and a Delhi-based firm Pushp Steel and Mining Pvt Ltd (PSMPL) in an alleged coal scam case pertaining to the allocation of 'Brahmapuri coal block' situated in Madhya Pradesh.

Special CBI judge Bharat Parashar while passing judgement clearly mentioned that prosecution has been miserably failed in proving any of the charges -- either for the offence of criminal conspiracy under Section 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) or for the offence of criminal misconduct, the offence of criminal breach of trust by a public servant under Section 409 of the IPC.

"So, I hereby acquit both accused -- PSMPL and Gupta -- in the present case of all offences," the judge said.

Advocate Rajat Mathur, appearing for accused Gupta, had denied the allegations and had claimed that the case of the CBI was false.

The probe agency had alleged that the company got a mining lease on the basis of a recommendation from the state government despite having no experience and lacking enough capital required for starting mining operations.

The company was allotted Brahmapuri coal block on the recommendation by the Screening Committee for its proposed Sponge Iron End-Use Project.

Gupta, who was the Coal Secretary from December 31, 2005 to November 2008, and PSMPL.The CBI had earlier claimed the allocation of Brahmapuri coal block was done on the basis of allegedly false information that the firm possessed an iron ore mining lease when it had none."It was further alleged the company did not have any experience in steel manufacturing and the net worth of the group companies was around Rs 3.01 crores, which was insignificant," it had said.