New Delhi: A special court in Delhi has discharged RKM Powergen Pvt Ltd, former Coal Secretary HC Gupta, and three others in the Fatehpur East coal block allocation case, observing that there was no evidence to prosecute them.
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The two promoters of the company — Andal Arumugam and TM Singaravel — and former Joint Secretary Kuljeet Singh Kropha have also been discharged by Special Judge Dheeraj Mor after hearing arguments from both sides.
Nearly three years after filing the FIR in 2014, the CBI had submitted its closure report on September 21, 2017, claiming that allegations under Indian Penal Code section 120B (criminal conspiracy) read with Section 420 (cheating), besides provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, were not substantiated.
However, not satisfied with the findings, the special court directed the agency to conduct a probe. Six years later, in 2023, the CBI filed a charge sheet against five accused under IPC sections related to criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
In its charge sheet, the CBI had alleged that RKM Powergen and its directors misrepresented their project preparedness, submitted forged documents, and cheated the government to secure the coal block. Judge Mor, after hearing detailed arguments from both sides — with the company represented by senior advocate Abhimanyu Bhandari — did not find evidence to substantiate the CBI’s allegations.
The court observed that the recommendation of the 35th Screening Committee in favour of RKM Powergen “cannot be held to be against public interest.” It said the decision to allocate coal blocks stemmed from a policy approved by the Energy Coordination Committee and the Prime Minister’s Office to ensure optimum utilisation of coal reserves for power, cement, and steel industries.
“Therefore, there is not even an iota of material available on record to suggest that the act of accused public servants was without public interest,” the court said while discharging Gupta and Kropha.
The CBI had alleged that the company and its directors secured the coal block by misrepresenting their preparedness to set up a power project and by submitting forged documents, thereby cheating the government.
The court, however, cited a testimony from CBI witness A Ravishankar (CMPDIL), who had ranked RKM Powergen on top of all the applicants after fulfilling nine criteria out of a total of 10 parameters, underlining that the company was the most deserving.
“Thus, it is evident that the accused... company (RKM Powergen Pvt. Ltd) was the most deserving company for the allocation of Fatehpur East Coal Block out of all the applicants,” the Special Judge noted.
The recommendation of the 35th Screening Committee for allocation of Fatehpur East Coal Block to the most meritorious and deserving company — RKM Powergen — is an act in public interest, the judge said.
The CBI had registered the coal scam FIR on August 7, 2014, under IPC section 120B (criminal conspiracy) read with Section 420 (cheating), besides provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
RKM Powergen Pvt Ltd had submitted its application on November 13, 2006, to the Ministry of Coal for allocation of Fatehpur East Coal Block in Janjgir-Champa, Chhattisgarh, earmarked for the power sector, for its proposed 1200 MW thermal power plant.
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It was alleged that the company misrepresented its net worth to be Rs 306.14 crore and that the 35th Screening Committee and the officials of the Ministry of Coal deliberately violated guidelines of the Ministry of Power and the coal block allocation norms. It was further alleged that shares were sold at a premium after the allocation, leading to windfall gains.
