NEW DELHI: A special CBI court on Monday sentenced Meghalaya Chief Secretary K.S Kropha and two other former Coal Ministry top officials to two years in prison in a coal scam case.
Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar also put a fine of Rs 1 lakh on each – Kropha, former coal secretary H.C Gupta and K.C Samaria. However, they were granted bail by the court after payment of personal bonds of Rs 1 lakh and a surety of like amount each. They have the liberty to appeal to the High Court.
Kropha and the two former bureaucrats were convicted for irregularities in allocating the Thesgora B-Rudrapuri coal block in Madhya Pradesh to Kamal Sponge Steel and Power Ltd (KSSPL) between 2004 and 2009.
The CBI counsel had sought seven-year jail term for the three former coal ministry officials.
The court further imposed a fine of Rs 1 crore on convicted firm Kamal Sponge Steel and Power Ltd and its Managing Director Pawan Kumar Ahluwalia was sentenced with three-year jail and a fine of Rs 30 lakh for misrepresenting facts in its application before the Ministry of Coal, which was then headed by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
On May 19, Parashar held the trio guilty and accused Ahluwalia of cheating and criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code and under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Gupta is facing trial in nine cases relating to the allocation of various coal blocks.
It was the third judgment by the special court exclusively dealing with the coal block allocation cases. Over 20 other cases investigated by CBI and the Enforcement Directorate are pending in the court.
In 2016, the court awarded four-year jail term to two directors of Jharkhand Ispat Pvt Ltd in a coal block allocation case.
On July 27, 2016, the court awarded three-year jail term to two senior officials of Delhi-based Rathi Steel and Power Ltd.
With the pronouncement of jail term and superannuation within this year, it is unlikely that Kropha will continue to remain the Chief Secretary of Meghalaya though the State bureaucracy is supporting him.
A 1982 batch Assam-Meghalaya cadre, Kropha is to retire in December this year and presently is on leave.
