A special court in Delhi on Friday convicted Gautam Kumar Basak in the infamous coal scam. He was the Executive Secretary of the Union Ministry of Steel’s Joint Plant Committee (JPC) at that time. Court found him guilty in a case of improprieties in the allocation of a coal block. This marks the 14th conviction in corruption cases pertaining to coal-scam matters. Special Judge Arun Bhardwaj on Friday found Gautam Kumar Basak guilty under section – 13(2) read with section – 13(1) (d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988. The court scheduled August 19 for arguments on the sentencing aspect.
According to the CBI, in November 2006, the Union Ministry of Coal (MOC) invited applications from companies engaged in power generation, steel, and cement for coal block allocations for captive power plants or independent power plants. Prakash Industries Ltd. applied for the Vijay Central Coal Block in Chhattisgarh. Previously, the Chotia Coal Block had been allocated to Prakash Industries Ltd., as noted by the CBI.
The CBI further stated that in an application dated January 1, 2007, submitted to the MoC, Prakash Industries Ltd. claimed a sponge iron production capacity of 8 million tonnes per annum (MTPA). Based on this claim, the Screening Committee of the Ministry of Coal recommended joint allocation of the Vijay Central Coal Block to Prakash Industries Ltd. and SKS Ispat Ltd. & Ors.
These recommendations were sent to the Prime Minister’s Office for final approval. However, during this period, complaints were raised by SKS Ispat Ltd., the Youth Anti-Corruption Bureau, and Om Prakash, a Member of Parliament from the Lok Sabha representing the Samajwadi Party. They alleged that Prakash Industries Ltd. had obtained the Screening Committee’s recommendation through false capacity information.
Responding to these complaints, the Ministry of Coal instructed the Ministry of Steel to verify the capacity claims made by Prakash Industries Ltd. in its application. Consequently, Gautam Kumar Basak, the Executive Secretary of JPC at the Ministry of Steel, was tasked with conducting an on-site assessment of Prakash Industries Ltd.’s plant in Champa, Raipur Chhattisgarh.
On September 4, 2008, Gautam Kumar Basak, along with Soumen Chatterjee, Manager at JPC, reportedly visited Prakash Industries Ltd.’s plant in Champa, Raipur Chhattisgarh. On September 5, 2008, they submitted a report that allegedly contained false information, supporting Prakash Industries Ltd.’s capacity claims. This misleading report, submitted by G. K. Basak, was sent by the Ministry of Steel to the Ministry of Coal and the Prime Minister’s Office, as per the CBI.
Subsequently, SKS Ispat Ltd. and the Youth Anti-Corruption Bureau (NGO) lodged complaints with the Ministry of Steel and the Ministry of Coal once again. Eventually, the Government of India established an Inter-Ministerial committee to ascertain the truth. This committee conducted an on-site verification and determined that Prakash Industries Ltd. had provided false capacity information in its application, and G. K. Basak had submitted a fabricated verification report to support the company’s claims.
The CBI had registered an FIR in this matter on April 7, 2010.
