NEW DELHI: Former Coal Secretary H C Gupta, an accused in several coal scam cases, did a U-turn on Saturday and withdrew his application seeking to pull out a personal bail bond in a case involving MP-based Kamal Sponge Steel and Power Ltd (KSSPL) and others and face trial from jail.
Gupta told Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar that he would continue to engage a lawyer to represent him in the case, retracting from his earlier submission that he was facing financial constraints and could not manage the advocate’s fees from his pension amount.
In his plea, Gupta said he wanted to withdraw the earlier application as he was advised by public servants and retired officers to follow the legal procedure.
“A large number of distinguished public servants, including those who retired at the highest levels in their respective services, have advised me to follow the normal legal procedure and practices in such cases. They have also pointed out the larger implications of my earlier decision for the overall system of governance and advised me to take back the application,” Gupta said in his fresh plea. He also expressed gratitude towards the court for explaining to him the legal aspects and offering him free legal aid, saying, “Your honour has been kind enough to ask me to reconsider the decision to facilitate better adherence to the due process of law and had kindly offered to arrange legal counsel free of cost from legal aid or at state expense.”
“You (judge) had had also spoken to my family in this regard,” he said.
The court then allowed Gupta to withdraw his plea