Coal Scam: Special Court Convicts Vijay Darda, HC Gupta, Manoj Jayaswal, Others

New Delhi [India] : The Special Court of Delhi on Thursday convicted all accused in a case related to alleged irregularities in allocating a coal block in Chhattisgarh.

The case involved former Rajya Sabha lawmaker Vijay Darda, his son Devender Darda, ex-Coal Secretary H C Gupta, two senior public servants K S Kropha and K C Samria, M/s JLD Yavatmal Energy Pvt Ltd and its Director Manoj Kumar Jayaswal. Special Judge Sanjay Bansal on Thursday held all of them guilty. The Court convicted them under offences under section 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code and under the relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

However, the Court acquitted the accused under 409 IPC (Criminal Breach of Trust by Public Servants). The Court fixed July 18 for arguements to announce the quantum of punishment. Earlier, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) told the court that JLD Yavatmal Energy Limited got Fatehpur East Coal Block in Chhattisgarh as part of the alleged criminal conspiracy by misrepresentation facts on the eligibility conditions.

According to the CBI, this is the thirteenth conviction in the Coal Scam related case. The prosecution was led by Senior Advocate RS Cheema along with A P Singh, Deputy legal advisor, and others. The coal related cases have been registered by CBI in connection with the allegations related to getting coal blocks allocated on the basis of misrepresentations and false claims in the applications, presentations and connivance or lack of due diligence on the part of public servants.