NEW DELHI, Nov 12 � The acts of former Coal Secretary H C Gupta and two other government officials overlooking the misrepresentation by Navbharat Power Pvt Ltd (NPPL) for getting coal block, prima facie amount to criminal misconduct, a special court today said, directing the CBI to further investigate the case, reports PTI.
The court differed from the investigating officer�s conclusion that no malafide intention was found on the part of government officials, saying it was prima facie clear that the decision of allocating coal block to NPPL was taken by the Ministry of Coal (MOC) officers and the Screening Committee without keeping public interest in mind.
�...I am of the considered opinion that the acts of MOC officers i.e., H C Gupta, Secretary MOC/Chairman, Screening Committee, KS Kropha, the then Joint Secretary, MOC/ Member Secretary, Screening Committee and K C Samaria, the then Director, MOC, prima facie falls within the four corners of the offence of criminal misconduct as defined in Section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act,� the judge said.
Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar, who kept pending final reports filed by the agency, ordered further probe in the case and directed it to file progress report on December 16.
