Ex-coal secy agrees to apply for bail, accept defence counsel

Adding another twist to the tale, former coal secretary H C Gupta, accused in several coal scam cases, on Saturday, withdrew his plea seeking cancellation of his bail.

Gupta, who had also stated that he would fight his own case without the help of any advocate, on Saturday said that BS Mathur would continue to stay on as his defence counsel.

On August 16, Gupta, who is facing nine cases in the alleged coal scam, broke down in court and applied to withdraw his bail bond and defence counsel. Gupta also refused to accept the sessions court's offer to avail the services of an Amicus Curiae or an advocate from New Delhi Legal Aid Services Authority (NDLASA).

In his application, filed in the Kamal Sponge Steel and Power Ltd (KSSPL) case, Gupta claimed that his conscience is clear since he acted in good faith to increase coal production. Gupta, was given time from the court to rethink his decision

However, the former bureaucrat on Saturday apologised and withdrew his application.

Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) judge Bharat Parashar, who on earlier occasions, had counselled Gupta against the application, allowed this plea.

In his application, Gupta had submitted, "They (CBI) seem to be looking for and trying to interpret the documents for prosecutable evidence rather than trying to ascertain the truth." Gupta claimed that he has always maintained the highest level of integrity and words like "conspiracy, corruption, criminal misconduct or dishonest action are totally alienable" to his style of working.

Gupta claimed that misleading the then Prime Minister and minister of coal Manmohan Singh was unimaginable and the decision to withdraw his personal bond (given at the time of getting bail) has been in the making since more than a year – when he was accused in the first coal case.

The former coal secretary added that he was an old man suffering from many diseases and it was possible he would not survive the entire duration of the trial. He also said that the pension he receives from the government is enough for a comfortable life, but in no way enough to pay the mounting legal fees required to fight the battle.

Gupta was the coal secretary from 2004-2009.

Following his application, the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) lobby had spoken out against targeting of civil servants in politically charged cases. The lobby had offered to pay for the legal cost and some even came forward to contribute for the defence fund.

"A large number of distinguished public servants, including those who retired at the highest levels in their respective services have advised me to follow the normal legal procedure and practices in such cases. They have also pointed out the larger implications of my earlier decision for the overall system of governance and advised me to take back the application. A number of well-wishers have also similarly advised me to withdraw the application," Gupta said in his fresh plea.

He also expressed his appreciation and gratitude towards the court for guiding him in this matter. "Your honour has been kind enough to ask me to reconsider the decision to facilitate better adherence to the due process of law and had kindly offered to arrange legal counsel free of cost from legal aid or at state expense," Gupta said.

"You (judge) had taken the trouble to explain various aspects to me in detail and had also spoken to my family in this regard," he said, adding "I have reconsidered my earlier application in the light of the above and being mindful of your views and also of those public servants and well-wishers, I have decided to withdraw the submissions in this regard made by me on August 16."

The court, which is currently recording the statements of defence witnesses in the case, had earlier granted bail to Gupta, the then joint secretary of coal K S Kropha, the then director (coal allocation-I section) K C Samaria and two officials of KSSPL in the case. In May, the court had dismissed Gupta's plea seeking joint trial in several cases against him in related to the matter, saying all the matters were at different stages.

On August 8, the Supreme Court has also rejected his plea for conducting joint trial in the cases in which he has been arrayed as an accused.

Gupta has been charged under sections 120-B r/w Section 409/420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 13(1)(c)/13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. In October 2014, the court had summoned Gupta as an accused dismissing the closure report filed by CBI.

During the arguments for framing of charges, Gupta had stated that the "final approval" on the allocation of the coal block to KSSPL was taken by former Prime Minister and then coal minister Manmohan Singh. However, the CBI had refuted his claim stating that Singh was "kept in the dark," and the then Coal Secretary had misled the senior officials in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

In March 2014, a draft report released by the Comptroller Audit General (CAG) stated that the government exchequer lost Rs 1.86 crore because it chose to allot the coal blocks to private entities and Public Sector Units (PSU) instead of auctioning it during the years 2004-2009. However in 2012, following a complaint lodged by Bharatiya Janata Part (BJP) – the opposition party at the time, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) initiated an inquiry to probe allegations of corruption. Consequently, a First Information Report (FIR) report was filed by the probe agency that accused almost a dozen firms overstating their net worth, failing to disclose prior coal allocations, and hoarding rather than developing coal allocations.