Court orders probe in NPPL coal allotment

The court, before taking cognisance against private parties in the case, has ordered further investigation to look into role of public servants in the case.

A special court on Wednesday ordered further investigation to probe the role of government officials including former coal secretary HC Gupta in connection with coal block allocation case involving Navabharat Power Pvt Ltd (NPPL).

“I am not entering into a detailed analysis of the evidence… however, I am of the considered opinion that acts of Ministry of Coal officers i.e. HC Gupta, Secretary, KS Kropha, the then joint secretary, KC Samaria, the then director – prima facie fall within the four corners of the offence of criminal misconduct…,” Special Judge Bharat Parashar said.

The court, before taking cognisance against private parties in the case, has ordered further investigation to look into role of public servants in the case and has directed the CBI to file a progress report on December 16.

Kaunain Sheriff M

Kaunain Sheriff M is an award-winning investigative journalist and the National Health Editor at The Indian Express. He is the author of Johnson & Johnson Files: The Indian Secrets of a Global Giant, an investigation into one of the world’s most powerful pharmaceutical companies. With over a decade of experience, Kaunain brings deep expertise in three areas of investigative journalism: law, health, and data. He currently leads The Indian Express newsroom’s in-depth coverage of health. His work has earned some of the most prestigious honours in journalism, including the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Award, and the Mumbai Press Club’s Red Ink Award. Kaunain has also collaborated on major global investigations. He was part of the Implant Files project with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which exposed malpractices in the medical device industry across the world. He also contributed to an international investigation that uncovered how a Chinese big-data firm was monitoring thousands of prominent Indian individuals and institutions in real time. Over the years, he has reported on several high-profile criminal trials, including the Hashimpura massacre, the 2G spectrum scam, and the coal block allocation case. Within The Indian Express, he has been honoured three times with the Indian Express Excellence Award for his investigations—on the anti-Sikh riots, the Vyapam exam scam, and the abuse of the National Security Act in Uttar Pradesh. ... Read More

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