Guilty without guilt in IAS

H C Gupta's case tells us how the 'system' works to punish the non-corrupt. And if this is how it's going to be, who would risk taking a decision?

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Shekhar Gupta
Does the name H.C. Gupta ring a bell? If it doesn’t, it means three things. One, that you haven’t been reading the newspapers carefully. Two, you don’t care for what fate befalls straightforward and honest public servants while the corrupt get away. And three, that you should then stop complaining that economic reforms run into bureaucratic roadblocks.

We know that H.C. Gupta is a common enough name. And no, he is no relation of mine. This is no ordinary H.C. Gupta. He is an IAS officer of the 1971 batch who rose to be Union coal secretary and has been convicted and given jail sentences in 11 out of 12 cases filed under the so-called coal mines allocation scam.

Four points need
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First Published: Aug 20 2022 | 09:30 AM IST

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