Former Union Minister Dilip Ray convicted with three years imprisonment in coal scam case

Photo Credits: REUTERS

Former Union Minister Dilip Ray was announced three-years imprisonment by the court on Monday regarding involvement in coal scam case. Ray was sentenced in the case which applies to inconsistency in the allocation of a Jharkhand coal block which happened in 1999.

Earlier in this month, Delhi court had assigned October 26 after considering the arguments of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and also the convicts. The court had issued an order for the convicts to have a physical presence on the date.

Ray has been sentenced under various sections, that is inclusive of section 409 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which is about breaching the trust of a public servant.

Vijay Aggarwal, who has represented accused in 2G scam and also advocated for coal scam, stated, “I am very surprised at conviction under section 409 of the IPC as the same court in the past has acquitted people in 409 IPC in view of three-judge bench judgement of Supreme Court. However, I welcome sentence not being harsh of three years having been imposed by the court.”

The judge revealed that Ray “dishonestly facilitated allocation of the abandoned non-nationalised coal mining area in favour of CTL and that too in violation of the direction of law.” This was the first conviction pertaining to coal scam. The case is about allocation of Brahmadiha coal block in Giridh in Jharkhand to CTIL in the year 1999.