New Delhi, 22 August (HS): Special Judge Arun Bhardwaj of Rouse Avenue Court sentenced Gautam Kumar Basak, a former Steel Ministry official, to three years imprisonment, convicted in a case of irregularities in the allocation of coal blocks in Chhattisgarh. The court also imposed a fine of Rs five lakh on Basak.
The Rouse Avenue Court convicted Gautam Kumar Basak, former executive secretary, JPC, Ministry of Steel, in the allocation of the Vijay Central coal block on August 18. The court had acquitted Soumen Chatterjee, the second accused in the same case.
According to the CBI, Prakash Industries Limited, which had applied for the coal block in January 2007, had given false information about its production capacity. The Ministry of Coal had directed Basak to ascertain the veracity of the allegations. Basak was alleged to have produced a false report in 2008 supporting the company’s claims. So far, 13 people have been convicted in the coal scam case.
Hindusthan Samachar/Indrani Sarkar
