Delhi court acquits former coal secy HC Gupta, 2 senior officials over Jharkhand block allocation ‘scam’
The allegations included that the firm JICPL had misrepresented facts and fraudulently obtained allocation of the Mahuagarhi coal block in Jharkhand. The court convicted JICPL's director.
4 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jun 7, 2025 04:15 AM IST
A Delhi court had in 2018 sentenced Gupta, Kropha and Samaria to three years’ imprisonment in a case pertaining to alleged irregularities in the allocation of Moira and Madhujore coal blocks. (File Photo)
A Delhi court Friday acquitted former coal ministry officials H C Gupta (secretary), K S Kropha (joint secretary) and K C Samaria (coal allocation director) in a case linked to alleged irregularities in the allocation of the Mahuagarhi coal block in Jharkhand to the company M/s Jas Infrastructure Capital Pvt Ltd (JICPL).
While the three men – represented by advocates Rahul Tyagi and Mathew M Phillip – were acquitted, Special Judge Sanjay Bansal of Rouse Avenue Court convicted the firm JICPL and its director Manoj Kumar Jayaswal. Arguments on their sentence will be heard on July 8.
The allegations in the case were that JICPL had misrepresented various facts in its application and had fraudulently obtained the allocation of the coal block. Allegations against the public servants were that they had acted in a manner which was “detrimental” to public interest and that they had allowed JICPL to “misappropriate” nationalised natural resources.
In December 2016, a trial court in Delhi had framed charges in this case for alleged offences under sections 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Initially, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had filed a closure report in this case in April 2014, stating that no case was made out against the accused. A detailed closure report was filed on October 14, 2014. The court had on November 20 that year disagreed with the CBI’s conclusion and held that a case was made out for taking cognisance of the alleged offences against the accused.
A Delhi court had in 2018 sentenced Gupta, Kropha and Samaria to three years’ imprisonment in a case pertaining to alleged irregularities in the allocation of Moira and Madhujore (North and South) coal blocks in West Bengal to Vikash Metal and Powers Ltd.
In 2017, the three were convicted in a case related to irregularities in the allocation of Thesgora-B Rudrapuri coal block in Madhya Pradesh to Kamal Sponge Steel and Power Ltd (KSSPL).
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Towards the end of its tenure, the UPA 2 government started being perceived as corrupt due to allegations connected with the “coal scam”. A Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report had at the time pegged the loss to the exchequer at Rs 1.8 lakh crore.
While 27 of the 54 cases being investigated by the CBI have been disposed of, the other half are still pending a decade later. With this case, the CBI has achieved 19 convictions. Three of its cases have ended in acquittals and two in discharge.
In the aftermath of the alleged coal scam, on August 25, 2014, the Supreme Court cancelled the allocation of 204 coal blocks, deeming them illegal and arbitrary. Additionally, it also levied a penalty of Rs 295 per tonne of coal that had already been mined over the years.
In his book titled Supreme Court and the Indian Economy, Pradeep S Mehta states that the apex court’s decision increased the current account deficit by US$ 700 million due to additional coal imports. “Around Rs 4.4 lakh crore was the estimated loss in royalty, cess, direct and indirect taxes, etc,” wrote Mehta, citing an SBI research report. Former Solicitor General of India Harish Salve had stated that the decision cost the economy 1 per cent of the GDP.
Nirbhay Thakur is a Senior Correspondent with The Indian Express who primarily covers district courts in Delhi and has reported on the trials of many high-profile cases since 2023.
Professional Background
Education: Nirbhay is an economics graduate from Delhi University.
Beats: His reporting spans the trial courts, and he occasionally interviews ambassadors and has a keen interest in doing data stories.
Specializations: He has a specific interest in data stories related to courts.
Core Strength: Nirbhay is known for tracking long-running legal sagas and providing meticulous updates on high-profile criminal trials.
Recent notable articles
In 2025, he has written long form articles and two investigations. Along with breaking many court stories, he has also done various exclusive stories.
1) A long form on Surender Koli, accused in the Nithari serial killings of 2006. He was acquitted after spending 2 decades in jail. was a branded man. Deemed the “cannibal" who allegedly lured children to his employer’s house in Noida, murdered them, and “ate their flesh” – his actions cited were cited as evidence of human depravity at its worst. However, the SC acquitted him finding various lapses in the investigation. The Indian Express spoke to his lawyers and traced the 2 decades journey.
2) For decades, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been at the forefront of the Government’s national rankings, placed at No. 2 over the past two years alone. It has also been the crucible of campus activism, its protests often spilling into national debates, its student leaders going on to become the faces and voices of political parties of all hues and thoughts. The Indian Express looked at all court cases spanning over two decades and did an investigation.
3) Investigation on the 700 Delhi riots cases. The Indian Express found that in 17 of 93 acquittals (which amounted to 85% of the decided cases) in Delhi riots cases, courts red-flag ‘fabricated’ evidence and pulled up the police.
Signature Style
Nirbhay’s writing is characterized by its procedural depth. He excels at summarizing 400-page chargesheets and complex court orders into digestible news for the general public.
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