Just days after declaring all 218 coal block allocations since 1993 as ‘illegal’, the Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday reserved its final order on whether the illegal coal block allocations should be axed, after the NDA government and coal block allottees took to different stands on cancellation of the allotments without referring them to a scrutiny committee.
While, the Coal block allottees, mostly from iron and steel industry and power sector, cried out that mass cancellation without giving them a hearing could have a catastrophic effect on the economy, Attorney general Mukul Rohatgi stuck to his earlier stand that the Centre was prepared for cancellation of all coal block allocations as a ‘logical corollary’ to these being declared illegal. However, Mukul Rohatgi requested the court if it could consider saving 46 of them, which have either started mining for end-use plants or were on the verge of doing so. Subsequently, Attorney general Mukul Rohatgi, unveiled that the government was formulating the process and guidelines for the auction in the event the court cancels the allocation.
However, a bench of Chief Justice R M Lodha and Justices Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph underscored that the government completely understood the economic impact, the consequences and the darkness that could follow by this decision, has its eyes wide open and could see every possible fallout. They further asserted that the government has full competence to take a position on this issue and feels that the impact is not going to be so much.
Nevertheless, allottees, led by senior advocates K K Venugopal, T R Andhyarujina, Harish Salve, Rajeev Dhavan, K V Vishwanathan, A M Singhvi and A K Ganguly, argued that principles of natural justice and demanded that a committee of retired SC judges assisted by experts should look into each case, hear the allottees and then decide upon the fate of coal block allottees.
