Coal scam: Court raps Jharkhand government official for his conduct

A senior Jharkhand government official, who appeared as a CBI witness in a coal scam case, was taken to task by a special court on Tuesday for not replying to questions, with the judge warning him that public servants were expected to behave in a court.

The court's observation came when Dilip Kumar Sharma, General Manager of District Industries Centre at Deoghar in Jharkhand, was being asked questions by senior public prosecutor V K Sharma on the files he had handed over to CBI inspector Vijai Chettiar during the probe.

As the prosecutor questioned the witness on whether he identified the files or not, he did not respond properly.

Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar then told Sharma he should specifically reply to the questions saying 'yes' or 'no' and then elaborate whatever he wanted to say further.

"Do not behave like a LDC (Lower Divisional Clerk) as you are a general manager and a senior government official. This is a court and not your office. It is expected of government servants to behave properly in the court.

"I am telling you that if you continue to behave like this, I will write about your behaviour and then send the order to the concerned authorities," the judge said.

Besides Sharma, the court on Tuesday concluded the recording of statements of three more witnesses and fixed the matter for further hearing tomorrow (Wednesday).

Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda and eight others, including former Coal Secretary H C Gupta, are facing trial in the case pertaining to the alleged irregularities in allocation of Rajhara North (Central and Eastern) coal block in Jharkhand to accused firm Vini Iron and Steel Udyog Ltd (VISUL).

The court had framed charges against Koda, Gupta, former Jharkhand Chief Secretary Ashok Kumar Basu, public servants Basant Kumar Bhattacharya and Bipin Bihari Singh, VISUL, its director Vaibhav Tulsyan, Koda's alleged close aide Vijay Joshi and chartered accountant Navin Kumar Tulsyan.

The court had framed charges against them for alleged offences punishable under sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) read with 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant) and 420 (cheating) of the IPC and under the relevant provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act.

In its charge sheet, CBI had alleged that though Jharkhand government and the Steel Ministry did not recommend VISUL's case for the coal block allocation, the 36th Screening Committee recommended the block to the accused firm.