Coal scam: Three including former Union Minister Dilip Ray, sentenced to 3-year jail term

A CBI special court sentenced the three convicts, including former Union Minister Dilip Ray in the coal scam case, to 3 years jail term. The accused were convicted during the last hearing, but the verdict on the sentence has been pronounced on Monday. In the previous hearing, the court had personally directed all the convicts to appear in the court.

Former Union Minister Dilip Ray was accused of corruption in the Brahmadiha coal mine allocation in Giridih, Jharkhand, in 1999. In this case, along with Dilip Ray, three other convicts have also been proved guilty. On October 6, the special CBI court had considered all the accused as convicted and postponed the verdict till further hearing.

The CBI had demanded life imprisonment sentencing to the accused, while the accused's counsel had requested to be lenient in the sentence citing no criminal record.

In this case, former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda has been proved guilty. He was fined Rs 25 lakh with three years in jail. Similarly, former mining secretary HC Gupta was also jailed for three years and fined Rs 1 lakh.