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Government to allow CBI to prosecute two senior IAS officers for alleged role in coal scam

The government is likely to allow the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to prosecute two senior IAS officers for their alleged role in coal block allocation scam in a rare case of withdrawal of immunity available to government officials, upsetting bureaucrats who fear proceedings against many public servants.

The Solicitor General of India has advised coal minister Piyush Goyal that the investigating agency should be given the permission to prosecute the two officials —Kuljit Singh Kropha, former joint secretary, and Kailash Chand Samaria, former director in the coal ministry — for alleged offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, a top government official told ET.

A special court on coalgate matters is set to pronounce a detailed verdict on the case on Wednesday. Goyal had sought the opinion of Solicitor General on the matter after the special court rapped the government for not responding to CBI in time and said this may lead to 'deemed  approval'.'

In a related development, the special court headed by judge Bharat Parashar on Tuesday summoned former coal minister Santosh Bagrodia, former coal secretary HC Gupta and retired section officer LS Janoti as accused in a coal scam case pertaining to allocation of Maharashtra's Bander coal block to AMR Iron and Steel Pvt Ltd.

The CBI had in January sought the permission to prosecute Kropha and Samaria. While Samaria, a 1993 batch officer, is serving as a joint secretary in the health ministry, Kropha, a 1982 officer, has moved back to his cadre. He served in the coal ministry from 2005 to 2010 while Samaria was in that office between 2006 and 2011.

Coal secretary Anil Swarup, based on recommendations of coal ministry's vigilance department, had recommended to Goyal against granting prosecution permission to CBI saying the two officials were not responsible for wrong information submitted by companies while applying for blocks.

The case against Kropha and Samaria pertains to about six cases including allocation of Thesgora-B/ Rudrapuri coal block in Madhya Pradesh to Kamal Sponge Steel and Power, which allegedly misrepresented facts, including inflated net worth, to bag the mine. CBI has alleged that the company had given a false statement about its annual turnover for two financial years while applying for coal blocks.

CBI also named the two former coal ministry officials along with erstwhile coal secretary HC Gupta in a case pertaining to alleged irregularities in allocation of coal block in Rampia in Odisha to Navbharat Power. There is a widespread feeling among bureaucrats that Kropha and Samaria were doing their duty and were not bound to verify the information provided by the companies.

source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com