IAS Association changes its Twitter logo in support of HC Gupta, KS Kropha, KC Samariya -- the officers convicted in a coal scam

IN A rare occasion and some would argue in the confrontation with judiciary, the IAS Association in its official Twitter handle has placed a unique logo. It reads: “I Stand By HC Gupta, KS Kropha, KC Samariya #IAS”. Only on Friday, a Delhi court held former IAS and ex-coal secretary HC Gupta guilty of corruption and criminal conspiracy in a case linked to the allotment of coal blocks in West Bengal. The other officers found guilty were…

Unease in corridors after former coal secretary HC Gupta and 2 serving IAS get 2 years jail

THERE has been an unease and anger among many a senior IAS officer in the corridors when a special court in Delhi on Monday sentenced former coal secretary and 1971 batch retired IAS HC Gupta along with two serving IAS officers — KS Kropha, 1982 batch IAS and former joint secretary in coal ministry and present Meghalaya chief secretary, and KC Samria, 1993 batch IAS and the then director in coal ministry — to two years in jail in coal block allocation during the UPA regime. “We need to seriously ponder over the impact of Harish Chandra Gupta judgement on governance in the country”, said…

Retired IAS and former coal secretary HC Gupta who refused to engage lawyers gets bail

IN AUGUST last year, former coal secretary Harish Chandra Gupta who was in jail in corruption cases related to allocation of coal blocks, became almost a hero when the IAS Association and senior IAS officers openly vouched for his honesty, further adding that if Gupta could go to jail, most of the other IAS should also be behind bars. His IAS batch mate of 1971 batch and former chief election commissioner Dr SY Quraishi went a step further, terming Gupta as one of the most honest officers “who lived like a sadhu”. On Tuesday morning, Gupta was…

Harish Chandra Gupta: 10 things to know about this jailed retired IAS; colleagues call him “Sadhu”

HC Gupta as coal secretary (File photo)

Harish Chandra Gupta, 67, is a 1971 batch IAS, retired as union coal secretary in November 2008. He is currently in jail in corruption cases related to the allocation of coal blocks, something being investigated by the CBI. But for quite sometime, serving IAS officers across cadres and batches have not only been vouching for Gupta's “honestly”, but have gone one step further— openly lobbying for his case particularly after Gupta told a CBI court that he did not have money to engage a good lawyer. His batch mate and former chief election commissioner Dr SY Quraishi calls him one of the most honest officers “who lived  like a sadhu”. Without going into the merits of the case, BoI here presents 10 facts about Gupta who is being implicated for what many others are calling as “honest mistakes”: