The Delhi High Court has recently granted bail to former coal secretary H C Gupta and former IAS officer K S Kropha, who was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison in connection with a case involving irregularities in the allocation of a coal block in Chhattisgarh. The court's decision comes in response to appeals filed by Gupta and Kropha against their convictions.
Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma presided over the case and issued notice on the appeals while announcing that Gupta and Kropha would remain out on bail until the final disposal of the matter. The court admitted the appeals and indicated that they would be heard in due course, alongside appeals from other convicted individuals.
The case revolved around the allocation of coal blocks in 2006, with allegations that JLD Yavatmal Energy concealed information in its application to secure a favourable allocation. Gupta, Kropha, and another bureaucrat KC Samria were accused of collaborating with the company to influence the allocation decision.
In the trial court's ruling, the accused were found guilty of criminal conspiracy and cheating under the Indian Penal Code, as well as other offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The Dardas, Vijay Darda and Devender Darda were sentenced to four years in prison, while businessman Manoj Kumar Jayaswal was similarly convicted.
In a separate hearing earlier, the Delhi High Court had already granted interim bail to the Dardas and Jayaswal, while issuing notices on their appeals. The trial court had highlighted the accused's collaboration with the Ministry of Coal officials in committing the offence of cheating.
The High Court's decision to grant bail to Gupta and Kropha is seen as consistent with their earlier grants of bail in similar cases. The court's actions underline the complexities of the case, where multiple individuals were found guilty of various charges related to the coal block allocation.
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