Coal Scam Case: Former Union Minister Dilip Ray Gets 3 Years Jail Term

Former union minister Dilip Ray was awarded a three-year jail term by a Delhi court. This is in connection with a two-decade-old Jharkhand coal block allocation scam in 1999. Ray was Minister of State (coal) in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.

The case pertains to allocation of 105.153 hectares of abandoned Brahmadiha coal block in Giridih in Jharkhand to Castron Technologies Ltd (CTL).

Former Union Minister Dilip Ray was found guilty by the court On October 14. The court had reserved the verdict on the jail term for pronouncement on October 26. Judge Bharat Parashar also awarded three-year jail terms to two senior officials of the Ministry of Coal at that time.

The court has imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh on each one of them. An Rs. 60 lakh fine was imposed on Castron Technologies Ltd’s (CLT) and Rs 10 lakh fine on Castron Mining Ltd (CML). As they too were held guilty in the case.

Besides Ray, the two former senior officials of the Ministry of Coal are Pradip Kumar Banerjee, the then Additional Secretary and Nitya Nand Gautam, former advisor (Projects), Castron Technologies Limited.

Ray, along with others, has been found guilty of offences under Sections 120-B and 120-B/409/420 of IPC and Sections 13 (1) (c) and 13 (1) (d) of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

As per recent reports, CBI court grants bail to former union minister Dilip Ray and other individuals convicted in the Jharkhand coal scam case. The bail bond was set at Rs 1 lakh each. Court also grants them time till 25th November to appeal in High Court.

Also Read: West Bengal: Former coal secretary HC Gupta among 5 convicted in coal scam case