Court dismisses ex-Coal Secy’s plea

A special court on Monday dismissed ex-Coal Secretary HC Gupta’s plea for dropping of proceedings on account of lack of sanction to prosecute him in a coal scam case, saying the allegations against him went beyond the act which could be treated as official duty. Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar said that Gupta was not simply prosecuted in the case for making recommendation being then chairman of Screening Committee, which can certainly be stated to have been done in discharge of his official duty.