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A Special court Verdict of Delhi on Wednesday acquitted six individuals, including former Coal Secretary H C Gupta, in a high-profile case related to the alleged coal scam involving the allocation of two coal blocks in Odisha. The accused, including senior public servants and officials from the private sector, were charged with conspiring to mislead the Ministry of Coal during the allocation process.
Special Judge Sanjay Bansal, while delivering the judgment, concluded that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had failed to establish, beyond a reasonable doubt, that any fraudulent misrepresentation had been made by the accused. Among those acquitted were Gupta, Navabharat Power Pvt. Ltd. (NPPL), its Chairman P. Trivikrama Prasad, Managing Director Y. Harish Chandra Prasad, and former Joint Secretary in the Coal Ministry K S Kropha, as well as K C Samaria, a former director in the Coal Allocation section of the ministry. The court found that no case of cheating could be proven, as no one was induced to act based on false information. Judge Bansal remarked, "When the application has been found to be complete, when the applicant company NPPL was eligible, and when no misrepresentations were made, no question arises regarding the existence of any conspiracy." The judge emphasized that the prosecution had failed to substantiate any claims of a criminal conspiracy or breach of trust. The CBI had alleged that between 2006 and 2008, NPPL, led by Y. Harish Chandra Prasad and P. Trivikrama Prasad, in collusion with Gupta, Kropha, and Samaria, had deceived the Ministry of Coal by submitting false claims regarding the company's land holdings and net worth. These misrepresentations were said to have induced the ministry to allocate two coal blocks -- Rampia and Dipside of Rampia-- to the company. However, the judge ruled that the prosecution's evidence was insufficient to prove the charges. With the failure to establish any criminal wrongdoing, all six accused were acquitted of all charges, marking a significant setback for the CBI's investigation into the alleged coal scam. (ANI)
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