SC termed 218 coal block allocations as illegal and advocate their cancellation
They deprecated the Centre's stand that "cancellation of coal block allocation is a natural consequence of the judgement. (Photo: PTI)
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved its order to decide the fate of 218 coal block allocations held as illegal by it with the Centre advocating their cancellation.
The Coal Producers Association, Sponge Iron Manufacturers Association and Independent Power Producers Association of India and some private entities opposed the stand of the Centre for not favouring the constitution of any committee to look into consequences of the August 25 judgement.
They deprecated the Centre’s stand that “cancellation of coal block allocation is a natural consequence of the judgement” by saying that it would lead to total disaster and ultimate suffering for man on street and rural population, already facing power crisis.
Senior advocates K.K. Venuogopal, Harish Salve and others submitted that the Centre was projecting itself as an innocent party which itself has misled the apex court on the contentious issue.
However, a bench headed by Chief Justice R.M. Lodha said “Government is only articulating its position” and it would “not be a fair way” of dealing with the matter as “screening committee meetings speak for themselves that no procedure was followed”.
“The fact of the matter is the governemnt wants to proceed with a clean slate,” the bench, also comprising justices M.B. Lokur and Kurian Joseph said.
Meanwhile, the CBI on Tuesday informed a special court that it will file a revised closure report giving details in a coal blocks allocation scam case allegedly involving JAS Infrastructure and Power Ltd and others in which the judge had observed that the probe was “incomplete”. Special public prosecutor R.S. Cheema told the court that the agency will file a comprehensive revised closure report which would be “explanatory” in nature. The
CBI’s move came after the court had earlier observed that nothing was clear in its closure report.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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