New Delhi, July 29 (Agency) A Special CBI Court on Friday convicted former Coal Secretary H C Gupta, former Joint Secretary K S Kropha and Nagpur-based Firm Grace Industries Ltd Director Mukesh Gupta in a coal block scam case in Maharashtra. The Central Bureau of Investigation alleged that the case related to the period between 2005 and 2011. The accused cheated the Ministry of Coal and fraudulently induced it to allocate the Lohara East Coal Block in Maharashtra in favour of Grace Industries Ltd on the basis of false information about net worth, capacity, equipment and status of procurement of plant.
The company in its application claimed its net worth as Rs.120 crores whereas this was Rs 3.3 crores only. The CBI registered a case on September 20, 2012. After investigation, a chargesheet was filed against Grace Industries Ltd and Mukesh Gupta on October 28, 2014. Special CBI Judge Arun Bhardwaj convicted H C Gupta and others under the Prevention of Corruption Act and listed the matter for final arguments on the point of sentence on August 4.