Former MP Vijay Darda among seven convicted in coal block allocation case

A Delhi court on Thursday convicted seven persons, including former Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Darda and former coal secretary HC Gupta, in a case of alleged irregularities in the allocation of a coal block in Chhattisgarh, The Indian Express reported.

The case pertains to the allocation of the Fatehpur (East) coal block in Chhattisgarh to a company named JLD Yavatmal Energy Private Limited. The Central Bureau of Information alleged in its first information report that JLD Yavatmal Energy had wrongfully concealed the fact that its group companies had been allocated four coal blocks from 1999 to 2005, according to the Hindustan Times.

The five others who have been held guilty in the case are the former MP’s son Devendra Darda, senior public servants KS Kropha and KC Samria, the firm JLD Yavatmal Energy itself and its Director Manoj Kumar Jayaswal.

The court will hear arguments on the quantum of sentencing on July 18.

Special judge Sanjay Bansal convicted the accused persons under Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code, as well as under the Prevention of Corruption Act. All the accused persons were, however, acquitted of charges under Section 409 of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with criminal breach of trust by public...

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