HC Gupta is an accused in the coal scam involving allocation of coalfields. (Representational Image)
Former bureaucrat HC Gupta, charged with corruption in a coal scam case, told a court today that he would not accept any financial help for lawyers and would rather go to jail. "My inner voice tells me that perhaps it is the wish of God that I should stay in jail," he told a special CBI court which framed charges of cheating and conspiracy against him and five others.
Mr Gupta, 68, was Coal Secretary for two years under the Congress-led UPA government before he retired in 2008. As the man who chaired a screening committee that cleared at least 40 cases of coal mining rights, he is accused of playing a role in what has been dubbed the "coal scam".
He has been made an accused in eight CBI cases.
"They allege that I misguided the then Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh). These allegations are absolutely shocking. This has persuaded me to withdraw the personal bond. I have been thinking of taking this decision for more than a year. It appears to me that I will be made accused in almost every case...perhaps I will have largest number of cases of corruption against me," he said before the CBI court.
On Tuesday, the retired official broke down in court while filing an application stating that he would like to withdraw his lawyer and the money he had deposited for bail.
Mr Gupta, who draws a monthly pension of Rs 70,000, has refused to take any help from the IAS officers' association, which is trying to raise money for him and also wants an appointment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi for more support.
"My well-wishers are suggesting ways to raise resources. While I am grateful, these things are not acceptable to me and this causes pain to me," said the ex-bureaucrat.
Sources say several bureaucrats went to court today to persuade Mr Gupta to change his decision. If he does not, the court will have no option but to jail him when it hears the case on August 27.
"This is going to make decision-making virtually impossible. If officers in a committee are targeted , no officer will take any decision.", said DK Mittal, a former bureaucrat.