CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has quashed the case registered eight years back against wife and mother of Deepak Gupta who is the key accused in the alleged Rs 1,523 crore Uliburu mining scam. But, the Court dismissed his brother Champak Gupta’s petition challenging the case registered against him in the scam.
The State Vigilance had arrested Deepak on September 5, 2013 and the chargesheet submitted on December 31 the same year named him as the prime accused in the mining scam. He was accused of misappropriating `1,523.59 crore during the period from 2004 to 2009 by illegally mining iron ore in Uliburu reserve forest in Keonjhar in connivance with officials of Mining, Forest and Revenue departments. The 25 accused named in the chargesheet included Deepak’s wife Nitu Gupta, mother Kanta Devi Gupta and brother Champak Gupta.
On Champak’s case, the single judge bench of Justice SK Panigrahi said given the discussion and after going through the materials on record as well as examining the position of law, the specific averments against him indicate the presence of allegations of participation, connivance and knowledge.
“Thus, it is in the interest of justice that he be made to stand the test of trial in order to ascertain the truth”, Justice Panigrahi said in his October 8 order, a copy of which was available on Saturday. In the case of Deepak’s wife and mother, Justice Panigrahi said the complaint does not indicate the existence of any prearranged connivance whereby Nitu and Kanta had any knowledge or premeditation in the matter.