Coal scam: Fmr Jharkhand CM Madhu Koda, Fmr coal Secy held guilty

New Delhi: A special court on Wednesday convicted former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda, ex-Coal Secretary H C Gupta and Former Jharkhand Chief Secy Ashok Kumar in coal scam case and helf them guilty of criminal conspiracy and Section 120B. The punishment shall be pronounced on Thursday. The case pertained to alleged irregularities in allocation of Rajhara North coal block in Jharkhand to Kolkata-based Vini Iron and Steel Udyog Ltd (VISUL). Besides Koda, Gupta and the firm, the other accused in the case include ex-Jharkhand Chief Secretary A K Basu, two public servants - Basant Kumar Bhattacharya and Bipin Bihari Singh, VISUL's Director Vaibhav Tulsyan, Koda's alleged close aide Vijay Joshi and chartered accountant Navin Kumar Tulsyan. The eight accused persons were earlier granted bail by the court after they had appeared before it in pursuance to the summons issued against them. They were summoned as accused after the court took cognisance of alleged offences under sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) read with 420 (cheating) and 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servants) of IPC and under provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act. During arguments, the CBI alleged that the firm had applied for allocation of Rajhara North coal block on January 8, 2007. It said although the Jharkhand government and Steel Ministry did not recommend VISUL's case for coal block allocation, the 36th Screening Committee recommended the block to the accused firm. The CBI said that Gupta, who was chairman of the screening committee, had allegedly concealed facts from then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who then headed the Coal Ministry too, that Jharkhand had not recommended VISUL for allocation of a coal block. Koda, Basu and two accused public servants conspired to favour VISUL in the coal block allocation, the agency added.