The Supreme Court today termed the method of allotment of Coal blocks between 1993 & 2011 as illegal but stopped short of de-allocating the blocks that were awarded during the UPA government.
The Apex Court will take a decision on re-allocation of mines on 01 Sep, 2014 and will reserve cancellation on a case-by-case basis.
The SC said the allocations were arbitrary, non-transparent and against public interest.
A bench headed by Chief Justice R M Lodha has examined the allegations about alleged irregularities in the allocation of around 194 Coal blocks without following proper guidelines and said that the allocation by the screening committee was not fair and transparent.
The Coal blocks were allotted in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh to private companies and parties between 2004 to March, 2011.
However, the SC allocated Coal block to ultra mega power projects but bars them from using the Coal for any purpose; examine commercial exploitation, other than captive consumption.
The SC said that all allocation made in 36 meetings of screening committee since 1992 are illegal & arbitrary.
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