Cabinet modifies earlier decision on coal allocation

Modification follows Attorney General's view that SC has refused to split 61 coal blocks into those where CBI is probing and those where no case has been registered

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Tuesday modified its earlier decision to allow states to grant coal mining leases to companies for blocks where the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is conducting an inquiry.The modification comes in the wake of Attorney-General G E Vahanvati apprising the Cabinet that the Supreme Court has refused to split 61 coal blocks being reviewed into those facing CBI investigation.

 

"What the Supreme Court has decided was conveyed to the Cabinet," said a senior Union minister after the CCEA meeting today.

 

The centre has furnished details of progress in the 61 blocks to the apex court. Companies with allocation of a few of them have been booked by the CBI. State governments had told the ministry they would prefer to wait till the Supreme Court issues orders before issuing mining leases. However, the ministry had last month asked them to go-ahead.

 

Following Vahanvati’s suggestion, the ministry had decided to withdraw its advice to the states. The coal ministry had on January 15 served a three-week notice to the allocatees of 61 blocks of private companies where mining leases have not been executed to furnish the proof of requisite clearances obtained.