Coal scam: Court grants bail to ex-Coal Secretary, others

Former Coal Secretary H C Gupta was today granted bail by a special court here in connection with a case related to alleged irregularities in allocation of a Chhattisgarh-based coal block to SKS Ispat and Power Ltd (SIPL).

Besides Gupta, who is already facing prosecution in over seven cases related to the coal scam, the court also granted the relief to senior public servant K S Kropha, firm's two directors Anil Gupta and Deepak Gupta, and three others -- Amit Singh, Rakesh Singh and Jagan Nath Panda -- in the case All the seven accused persons were granted the bail on a personal bond of Rs one lakh and one surety of like amount.

The accused persons and the firm were summoned by the court for allegedly misrepresenting the facts before the Screening Committee in relation to the land and net worth of company.