New Delhi, Dec 13 (PTI) Four out of 30 cases of coalblock allocation scam have been decided by a special courthere, with the conviction of former Jharkhand Chief MinisterMadhu Koda today.
12 persons and four companies have been held guilty sofar with today's decision in four cases.
As per today's judgement, former coal secretary H C Guptastands convicted in two out of 11 cases in which he is anaccused.
Koda and Gupta are among four persons convicted in a casepertaining to irregularities in allocating Rajhara North coalblock in Jharkhand to the Kolkata-based Vini Iron and SteelUdyog Ltd (VISUL), which was also held guilty.
Koda is also an accused along with Gupta and Congressleader and industrialist Naveen Jindal and former Minister ofState for Coal Dasari Narayan Rao, in another case pertainingto alleged irregularities in allocation of AmarkondaMurgadangal coal block in Jharkhand.
Gupta, who was the coal secretary from December 31, 2005to November 2008, was earlier awarded two year jail term,along with then joint secretary K S Kropha and then director KC Samaria in the Ministry of Coal, for cheating, criminalconspiracy and corruption in a case relating to irregularitiesin the allocation of Thesgora-B Rudrapuri coal block in MadhyaPradesh to Kamal Sponge Steel and Power Ltd (KSSPL).
Gupta is currently on bail.
The first conviction in the coal scam cases came on March28, 2016 in a case pertaining to irregularities in allotmentof a coal block in Jharkhand to a firm Jharkhand Ispat Pvt Ltd(JIPL) whose two directors R S Rungta and R C Rungta wereawarded four year jail term.
The second conviction followed four months later on July26 in which Rathi Steel and Power Ltd (RSPL) and three of itsofficials -- Managing Director Pradeep Rathi, Chief ExecutiveOfficer Udit Rathi and AGM Kushal Aggarwal -- were held guiltyby the court for "deceiving" the government by making falserepresentation even before then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The third conviction took place on May 19 this year inthe case involving KSSPL, in which the firm and its managingdirector Pawan Kumar Ahluwalia were also held guilty alongwith Gupta.
Today's decision by Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar,who was appointed exclusively to deal with the coal scamcases, was the fourth. The arguments on quantum of punishmentin this case will be held tomorrow.
Those convicted in the four cases so far are Koda, Gupta,Basu, Joshi, Kropha, Samaria, Ahluwalia, Pradeep Rathi, UditRathi, Kushal Aggarwal, R S Rungta, R C Rungta and fourcompanies -- KSSPL, RSPL, JIPL and VISUL. PTI UK AG RKSARC.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.