A Delhi court has convicted former Rajya Sabha member Vijay Darda, his son, Devendra Darda, former coal secretary H C Gupta, and four others in a case related to irregularities in the allocation of a coal block in Chhattisgarh.
Special judge Sanjay Bansal on Thursday, July 13, held the seven guilty under the Indian Penal Code (IPC)’s Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and under the Prevention of Corruption Act. JLD Yavatmal Energy Pvt Ltd director Manoj Kumar Jayaswal and two officials K S Kropha and K C Samria are among others who have been convicted.
The seven were acquitted under IPC’s section 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servants). The matter has been listed for arguments on the quantum of punishment on July 18.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said 13th convictions have been secured in the coal allocation scam, which rocked then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government in 2012.
The Supreme Court in 2014 declared allocations of over 200 coal blocks to power, steel, and cement companies since 1993 illegal. In its report in 2012, the Comptroller and Auditor General said underpriced sales cost the exchequer. The scandal was dubbed as “Coalgate”.
In its first information report (FIR) in the case related to the allocation of the coal block in Chhattisgarh, the CBI said JLD Yavatmal wrongfully concealed the previous allocations of four coal blocks to its group companies in 1999-2005. A closure report was later filed saying the coal ministry gave no undue benefit to the company.
The report said that nothing substantial emerged to establish that the coal ministry officials and JLD Yavatmal Energy directors were involved in cheating and criminal conspiracy.
The trial court in November 2014 refused to accept the closure report and directed the CBI to conduct further investigation into the matter. It said Vijay Darda “misrepresented” facts in letters written to Manmohan Singh, who then held the coal portfolio.

The court said Vijay Darda, the Lokmat Group chairman, did so to get the Fatehpur (East) coal block in Chhattisgarh allotted to JLD Yavatmal Energy.It said private parties “prima facie” committed offence of cheating in “furtherance of a conspiracy” hatched with the public servants. The 35th Screening Committee allotted JLD Yavatmal Energy the Fatehpur (East) coal block. Source: HT