New Delhi: The Supreme Court today cancelled allocation of 214 coal blocks allotted between 1993 and 2008.
The Apex Court, however, does not cancel four coal blocks out of 218 which were declared illegal. The four coal blocks which were exempted are government-run non-joint ventures. They are Sasan, UMPP, NTPC and SAIL.
It granted six months ‘breathing time' to companies whose blocks were cancelled to wind up business.
It further directed that companies will have to pay the loss as compensation for the non-operation of the mines.
The top court also accepted Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG)'s estimate that there was loss of Rs 295 per mega tonne due to the non-operation of the mines.
The Apex Court had on August 25 held that all coal blocks allocations since 1993 by various regimes at the Centre have been made illegally and arbitrarily.
Earlier, the Apex Court, which had used almost all terms to condemn the procedures adopted by 36 screening committee meetings since 1993, however, had stopped short of cancelling them saying, ‘what should be the consequences, is the issue which remains to be tackled'.
The court, which examined the allocation of 218 blocks in pre-auction era till 2010, had held that they were done in an illegal manner by an ‘ad-hoc and casual' approach ‘without application of mind' and ‘common good and public interest have, thus, suffered heavily' due to lack of fair and transparent procedure resulting in ‘unfair distribution' of the ‘national wealth' -- coal – ‘which is king and paramount Lord of industry'.
