Sachin=GOD Posted August 26, 2014 Posted August 26, 2014 The Supreme Court on Monday pulled up the Centre on coal block allocations and declared all 218 allocations made from 1993 to 2011 illegal and arbitrary. A Bench of Chief Justice R.M. Lodha and Justices Madan B. Lokur and Kurian Joseph said the entire allocation of coal blocks as recommended by the Screening Committee from July 14, 1993, in 36 meetings and the allocation made through the government dispensation route suffered from the vice of arbitrariness and legal flaws. Though the present judgment would imply that the coal block allocations are to be cancelled, the Bench said the consequences of declaring the allocations illegal would be considered on September 1 taking into account the investments made by companies for various projects and the procedure to be adopted for cancellation. The Bench said the government dispensation route, whereby public sector corporations and undertakings were allocated coal blocks and joint venture companies had been allowed to enter into Mine Development Operation Agreements with other private partners or sister concerns, had virtually defeated the legislative policy in the Coal Mines Management Act. Winning and mining of coal mines had resultantly gone into the hands of private companies for commercial use. Allocation of coal blocks through the government dispensation route, however laudable the object might be, was illegal since it was impermissible as per the scheme of the Coal Mines Management Act. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/supreme-court-cancels-all-coal-block-allocations/article6349454.ece?homepage=true In their judgement, Justice RM Lodha, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph have come to a scathing conclusion: “The Screening Committee has never been consistent, it has not been transparent, there is no proper application of mind, it has acted on no material in many cases, relevant factors have seldom been its guiding factors, there was no transparency and guidelines have seldom guided it. On many occasions, guidelines have been honoured more in their breach. There was no objective criteria, nay, no criteria for evaluation of comparative merits. The approach had been ad-hoc and casual. There was no fair and transparent procedure, all resulting in unfair distribution of the national wealth. Common good and public interest have, thus, suffered heavily." http://scroll.in/article/676075/Why-the-Supreme-Court-verdict-in-the-coal-scam-is-cause-for-both-hope-and-despair
Sachin=GOD Posted August 26, 2014 Author Posted August 26, 2014 Good to see SC getting very tough on corrupt practices. Only 30 of the 218 blocks allocated since 1993 had come into production until a year ago so at the very least the 188 blocks where production has not started should be cancelled.
diga Posted December 16, 2014 Posted December 16, 2014 NDTV @ndtv 30s ago Coal scam: Court asks for further probe against Hindalco, wants statement of ex-PM Manmohan Singh who was coal minister Will he talk or stay silent as usual ?
asterix Posted December 16, 2014 Posted December 16, 2014 Will he talk or stay silent as usual ? Use of sign language could be a possibility....
diga Posted February 20, 2015 Posted February 20, 2015 Coal auction: Ex-CAG Vinod Rai has the last laugh as bids go over the moon http://www.firstpost.com/business/coal-auction-ex-cag-vinod-rai-has-the-last-laugh-as-bids-go-over-the-moon-2108377.html egg on MMS face...pity him
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