Coal 'scam' case: Court lets off two ex-officials

New Delhi: A special CBI court in Delhi has discharged two former senior officials of the Union coal ministry as well as a company and its two top officials in a case of alleged irregularities in the allocation of the Fatehpur East coal block in Chhattisgarh, observing that there is not even an iota of material available on record to suggest that the act of accused public servants was without public interest.The two accused public servants were HC Gupta and KS Kropha, formerly secretary and joint secretary at the coal ministry. In the Oct 31 order, special judge Dheeraj Mor said irregularities in the absence of any established mens rea (dishonest intention) cannot be given the tone of criminality. This is the fourth recent case related to the alleged coal block allocation scam where public servants have been granted relief by the court.

The instant case pertains to applications invited by the coal ministry in Nov 2006 for the allocation of 38 blocks. Following this advertisement, the company, RKM Powergen Pvt Ltd, applied for the Fatehpur East coal block in Chhattisgarh for a proposed 1,200 MW thermal power plant.Taking note of the fact that the company ranked on top out of all the applicants in 9 out of 10 parameters, the judge said there is no evidence that the accused public servants were aware of any alleged misrepresentation made by the company to the screening committee of the ministry of coal or used any forged document as genuine.