Coal scam: Only 5 of 42 cases decided, 13 persons, 5 cos found guilty

Five out of a total of 42 cases of coal block allocation scam have so far been decided by a special court here, with the conviction of Gondwana Ispat Ltd and its director today.

As many as 13 persons and five companies have been held guilty so far in five cases including today's decision, in which the special court held Gondwana Ispat Ltd and its director guilty of cheating and criminal conspiracy to get the Majra coal block in Maharashtra allocated to it.

In December last year, former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda was convicted along with former coal secretary H C Gupta in a case pertaining to irregularities in allocating Rajhara North coal block in Jharkhand to the Kolkata-based Vini Iron and Steel Udyog Ltd (VISUL), which also was held guilty.

Koda is also an accused along with Gupta and Congress leader and industrialist Naveen Jindal and former Minister of State for Coal Dasari Narayan Rao in another case pertaining to alleged irregularities in allocation of Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block in Jharkhand.

Gupta, who was the coal secretary from December 31, 2005 to November 2008, was earlier awarded two year jail term, along with then joint secretary K S Kropha and then director K C Samaria in the Ministry of Coal, for cheating, criminal conspiracy and corruption in a case relating to irregularities in the allocation of Thesgora-B Rudrapuri coal block in Madhya Pradesh to Kamal Sponge Steel and Power Ltd (KSSPL).

Koda, Gupta and Jindal are currently on bail.

The first conviction in the coal scam cases came on March 28, 2016 in a case pertaining to irregularities in allotment of a coal block in Jharkhand to a firm Jharkhand Ispat Pvt Ltd (JIPL) whose two directors R S Rungta and R C Rungta were awarded four year jail term.

The second conviction followed four months later on July 26 that year in which Rathi Steel and Power Ltd (RSPL) and three of its officials -- Managing Director Pradeep Rathi, Chief Executive Officer Udit Rathi and AGM Kushal Aggarwal -- were held guilty by the court for "deceiving" the government by making false representation even before then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The third conviction took place on May 19, 2017 in the case involving KSSPL, in which the firm and its managing director Pawan Kumar Ahluwalia were also held guilty along with Gupta.

Later in on December 13, 2017, Koda was convicted with four others in a case pertaining to irregularities in allocating Rajhara North coal block in Jharkhand.

Today's decision was the fifth conviction in the coal scam cases.