All coal block allocations post 1993 illegal: Supreme Court

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Aug 25, 2014:  The Supreme Court on Monday said the allocation of coal blocks carried out by the screening committee post 1993 were illegal as they were not fair and transparent.

Criticising the terms of allocation of the coal blocks, the Supreme Court said they were done under the screening committee rule and the government dispensation suffers from illegality.

No objective criteria was followed and guidelines were breached in the coal block allocation, the SC said adding that all allocations were done in illegal manner and that it suffers from vice of arbitrariness.

However, the apex court stopped short of deallocating the coal blocks.

Further hearing is required to determine whether there is a need for cancelling 218 coal block allocations, the Supreme Court said and has fixed September 1 to decide the consequences of the illegality of the coal blocks.

The coal blocks were allotted mainly in Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh to private companies.

Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has decided to file a closure report in the coal block allocation scam involving Kumar Mangalam Birla and former Coal Secretary P C Parakh after a 10-month probe with the agency stating that they could not find any evidence in this matter.


Courtesy: Zeenews