Wiser after #2gScam ?

Economic Times ( 18 Dec ) carries following news report :

“ Ex-PMO Official Deposition Sealed Ex-Coal Secy’s Fate “

In the coal scam case , CBI court awarded 3 year sentence to ex coal secretary , H C Gupta , saying :

·         He actively , deliberately and consciously , concealed facts from the then Prime Minister

·         Neither was it alleged by the prosecution nor any such evidence was available to show that Gupta obtained allocation of a coal block for the accused company by any corrupt or illegal means

·         Prosecution is required to prove only that in order to obtain either for himself or for any other person , any valuable thing or pecuniary advantage , the public servant abused his position

{  Astute readers would find subtle similarities in the observations made by the CBI Court this afternoon , in its 1582 page verdict , acquitting all accused in the 2011 , 2G Scam ! }

While pressing for a lenient sentence, Gupta said that as per the prosecution case itself , there has been no allegation against him of any nature whatsoever that any financial gain was obtained by him

The news report carries quotes from Anil Swarup ( HRD Secretary ) and Parmeshwaran Iyer ( Sanitation Secretary ) , talking highly about Gupta being an honest officer

Earlier Amitabh Kant ( CEO – NITI Aayog ) had voiced similar sentiments about Shri Gupta

All this is “ water under the bridge “ !  Irreversible  !

But , if the government wants to encourage honest officers to take “ Bold / Out of the Box “ policy decisions, without being afraid of “ getting their necks chopped off “ , then it should waste no further time to implement my following suggestion :

( - and without waiting for the Government to advise them , what is holding up Central IAS Officers Association , to initiate this, on their own ?  )

Friday, 20 June 2014

To err is  human

To forgive is divine ( provided it was a honest error )

All of us keep making errors , all the time

But rarely same " mistake " twice

Often , decisions taken at a point of time , turn out to be " poor " , with passage of time

Reasons are simple :

*  We never have all the information - relevant to the problem we are trying to solve –

    available with us , at the time of taking a decision

*  Even when most of such relevant info is available , we may not have the capacity /

    competence to " process " such info

*  As humans , we have our biases / prejudices , based on our previous experiences ,

    which influence our decisions

*  Quite often , and often against our own better evaluation / judgement of a given

    situation , we are wrongly influenced by our peers / bosses / subordinates or even

     voters - all of whom have different expectations / vested interests !

*  Additional - and more relevant - information surfaces , AFTER we have taken a

    decision ( happens all the time  !  )

To encourage Babus and Ministers to take FAST decisions , Shri Narendra Modi must insist that they carefully " Record " on the files :

*   What info / data he wished was available for a better decision

*  What different " views / opinions " were presented to him for consideration

*  What " Data / Views " he would have obtained if he had more time

*   Who all , the decision might offend

*   What is the likely " Cost " of postponing that decision

And finally a declaration :

* This decision is not likely to benefit any of my near relatives / friends , directly or

   immediately

After all of this , if the decision appears to be " Wrong " in hindsight , it must be " forgiven " and treated as an honest error

To err is human  !

21  Dec  2017

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

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Added on  29 March  2026 :

Coal scam: Delhi court acquits ex-MP Vijay Darda, his son and former coal secretary H.C. Gupta

Extract :

A special court on Friday (March 27, 2026) acquitted former MP Vijay Darda, his son Devendra Darda and former coal secretary H.C. Gupta in a case related to coal block allocation after finding no evidence to support the charges of cheating, criminal conspiracy or misconduct.

The CBI registered more than 50 cases regarding the alleged coal scam.

According to the prosecution, AMR Iron and Steel Private Limited, in conspiracy with Gupta, submitted false information in its application to the Union Ministry of Coal to secure allocation of the coal block.

The court, however, rejected CBI’s allegations. According to the evidence before it, the relevant information was already available to authorities during the allocation process, and no witness corroborated claims of inducement or deception, it said.

According to the court, the prosecution failed to prove charges of cheating and criminal conspiracy. After examining the evidence and testimonies, the court found no evidence to support these allegations.

It emerged during the trial that there was no evidence to establish any false or dishonest intent in the company’s application or feedback form. Records showed that all relevant information was already available with authorities during the allocation process, and no witness corroborated claims of inducement or deception, the judgement said.

The court also noted that the alleged ₹24.6 crore transactions were not substantiated, and no link was established between the payments, the coal block allocation, or the letters written by Vijay Darda.

Additionally, there was no evidence to suggest that the letters influenced the allocation decision, it said.

The detailed judgement is awaited.