Coal Scam: Delhi special court convicts former Steel Ministry official for corruption

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A special court in Delhi delivered its verdict on Friday, convicting Gautam Kumar Basak, the former Executive Secretary of the Union Ministry of Steel's Joint Plant Committee (JPC), in a case related to irregularities in the allocation of a coal block.

This marks the 14th conviction in cases involving corruption in coal-related matters. The trial was conducted by Sanjay Kumar, Deputy Legal Advisor of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Special Judge Arun Bhardwaj convicted Gautam Kumar Basak under section 13(2) read with section 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988. The sentencing arguments are scheduled for August 19.

According to the CBI, the Union Ministry of Coal invited applications from companies engaged in power, steel, and cement generation for the allocation of coal blocks for captive power plants and independent power plants in November 2006.

Prakash Industries Ltd. had applied for the Vijay Central Coal Block in Chhattisgarh. Prakash Industries Ltd. had previously been allocated the Chotia Coal Block, as per the CBI.

In its application dated January 1, 2007, Prakash Industries Ltd. claimed a sponge iron production capacity of 8 MTPA. Based on this claim, the Screening Committee of the Ministry of Coal recommended joint allocation of the Vijay Central Coal Block in favor of Prakash Industries Ltd. and SKS Ispat Ltd. & Ors.

However, complaints were lodged alleging that Prakash Industries Ltd. had secured the recommendation of the Screening Committee by providing false information about its capacity.

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In response, the Ministry of Coal directed the Ministry of Steel to verify the claims made by Prakash Industries Ltd. The Ministry of Steel then directed Gautam Kumar Basak to conduct an on-the-spot verification of Prakash Industries Ltd.'s plant.

On September 4 and 5, 2008, Basak and Soumen Chatterjee, Manager of JPC, visited the plant and submitted a false report supporting Prakash Industries Ltd.'s claims. This false report was forwarded to the Ministry of Coal and the Prime Minister's Office.

An Inter-Ministerial committee was subsequently formed to investigate the matter. This committee concluded that Prakash Industries Ltd. had provided false information and that Basak had submitted a false verification report.

An FIR in this matter was registered by the CBI on April 7, 2010. (Agencies)