A Special CBI Judge today sentenced former Union Minister of State, and BJP leader Dilip Ray to three years imprisonment in connection with his conviction in the 1999 Jharkhand Coal Scam. Bharat Parashar, Special CBI Judge pronounced the order in the physical presence of all convicted persons in the case. The case pertains to irregularities in the allocation of a Jharkhand coal block in 1999 when Ray was Minister of State for Coal in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. Earlier this month, the Court had convicted Ray and others in connection with the coal scam. Dilip Ray was convicted of conspiracy, cheating, and criminal breach of trust under Sections 120-B, 409, and 420 of the Indian Penal Code. Additionally, he was found to have violated provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act; converting property for his own use and for taking illegal gratification. Apart from Ray, the court had also convicted two former senior officials of the Ministry of Coal Pradip Kumar Banerjee and Nitya Nand Gautam, as well as the Director of Castron Technologies Limited, Mahendra Kumar Aggarwalla.
