Court said the 3 officers withheld information from ex-PM Manmohan Singh and distorted facts while recommending a private company for allotment of a coal block.
New Delhi: The IAS Association has called the conviction of three IAS officers, including former coal secretary H.C. Gupta, in the Coalgate scam, “unfortunate” and “unfounded”.
A Delhi court Friday convicted the three — Gupta, 1982 batch officer K.S. Kropha and 1993 batch officer K.C. Samria — in a scam relating to allotment of coal blocks in West Bengal during the previous UPA regime. While Gupta and Kropha have retired, Samira is a serving officer.
The Association has called a meeting in this regard Monday, and will decide what action to pursue in the matter, Association president Rakesh Srivastava told ThePrint.
Meanwhile, the IAS Association tweeted, “Conviction of honest IAS officers in Coal Scam is most unfortunate. A black letter day for bureaucracy – Convicting officers for bona fide decisions in the interest of administration. We stand by the officers in this time of distress. #HCGupta”
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‘Three officers kept former PM in dark’
Gupta, who served as the coal secretary from 31 December 2005 to November 2008, and the two other officials working with the coal ministry at the time — Kropha and Samria — withheld information from then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and distorted certain facts while recommending a private company for allotment of a coal block, the Delhi court said Friday.
However, fellow IAS officers have alleged that the convictions have happened as per a repealed and draconian provision of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
“There has been no evidence of any quid pro quo in this case,” IAS officer and Punjab IAS Association president, K.B.S. Sidhu said.
“In any government dealing, some pecuniary benefit to a third party is a given…Now, after 7-8 years, just alleging that the benefit was deliberately given by an officer even when there is no evidence of any quid pro quo is wrong,” he added.
“This is why Parliament, in its wisdom, has repealed Section 13 (1) (d) (ii) of the Prevention of Corruption Act because it made officers vulnerable to conviction if some benefit was caused to a third party, and an investigating officer was of the view a decision was not taken in public interest,” he said.
“It was so loosely worded, so susceptible to misuse…Even though this provision is gone now, these officers have been convicted under that provision.”
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‘Injustice’, says former IAS officer
Retired IAS officer Anil Swarup, who has also served as coal secretary himself, tweeted, “Nothing could be as shocking as this. Even in the absence of any mala fide, an honest officer has been hauled up. The law was subsequently amended to prevent such ‘injustice’ but Mr Gupta has been held guilty under the original law.”
Earlier this year, the government amended the anti-corruption law — a longstanding demand of civil servants — and repealed Section 13 (1) (d) (ii). According to this Section, that an officer obtaining pecuniary advantage or valuable thing for themselves or for any other person by corrupt or illegal means or by abusing their position or without any public interest, shall amount to an offence of criminal misconduct punishable under the Act.
Officers had wholeheartedly welcomed the amendments because they ensured that the malicious intent of an officer has to be proved for conviction.
However, the amendments have been now challenged in the Supreme Court by advocates Prashant Bhushan and Rohit Singh, who have argued that the amendments have rendered the Act ineffective, and exponentially expanded the scope of corruption.
Besides, why is a retired coal secretary alone being convicted, asked another IAS officer, who did not want to be named.
“Certainly, the files went up all the way to the PMO and coal minister…Why is nobody asking why the PM’s Secretariat was a mute spectator?” the officer asked.
While the court observed that the then PM Manmohan Singh was misled by the convicted bureaucrats, and he had no reason to not believe them, the convictions have brought back the memories of the colossal Rs 1.86 lakh crore scam, which had significantly tarnished the image of the Congress-led UPA government.
Gov employees cant be kept free of prosecution which is why they are free to harass citizens of India. And get away with crime. Such as income tax officers that take pleasure out of harassing entrepreneurs to extort money.
The law itself has been changed in July 2018, but not with retrospective effect. This would be a fit case for a presidential pardon.
The most disastrous contribution of BJP and its associate bodies to Indian society is the word, SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS. I am not saying what the IAS body is saying is wrong or right because I don’t have the details or competence to judge. But the situation is such in our country ever since Mr Modi has come to power that EVERYONE is questioning the judiciary. Be it Giriraj Singh or RSS fraternity’s foot soldier, everyone knows how a judge SHOULD form his opinion in a particular case.
If the court convicts on evidence and due process of defence lawyers given the opportunity of presenting their side of the story then the IAS Association has no business in rebutting the charges. They are utterly – buttery wrong and should stand down.
There is an appeal process, which is due to the accused. They should utilize that.