M A I N   N E W S

SC cancels 214 of 218 coal blocks
R Sedhuraman
Legal Correspondent

Firms get 6 months to wind up ops: The cancellations would be effective from March 15, 2015, to enable the Coal India Ltd to adjust to the changed situation and the affected companies to wind up their operations

New Delhi, September 24
The Supreme Court today quashed all but four of the 218 coal block allocations done since 1993 illegally and arbitrarily. “There is no reason to save them from cancellation” and the fact that some of them were 90-95% ready for mining “is wholly irrelevant,” a Bench headed by Chief Justice RM Lodha ruled.

The Centre had pleaded for leaving out 46 coal blocks where mining was already on or about to begin. Their allocation was illegal and arbitrary, as already held on August 25, and therefore “we quash all these allotments,” the Bench said.

The four blocks spared from the cancellation order are: two blocks at Moher and Moher Amroli Extension allocated to Sasan Power Ltd for setting up an Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP), Tasra block given to the Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) and the Pakri Barwadih block given to the NTPC.

The cancellations would be effective from March 15, 2015, to enable the Coal India Ltd to adjust to the changed situation and move forward and the affected companies to wind up their operations.