Why not sell coal from two Chhattisgarh mines to JPL:HC to CIL

Delhi High Court today suggested to Coal India Ltd (CIL) to sell to Jindal Power Ltd (JPL) the coal it has started to mine from two Chhattisgarh mines if it did not have the space to store the mineral.
A bench of justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva gave the suggestion after CIL moved an application seeking permission to sell the coal it has started to mine from Gare Palma IV/2 and IV/3 mines after receiving environmental clearance.
It moved the application as the high court on May 27 had kept in abeyance a letter issued by CIL cancelling the e-auction in which JPL had won 49,000 metric tonnes of coal to be mined from the two mines.

CIL put before the bench three options - selling the coal by way of a fresh e-auction, selling it to those companies with whom the public sector unit has a fuel supply agreement or sale to National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd (NTPC) - and asked the court which method should it go for.
The counsel for CIL told the court that the problem was that after it had received environmental clearance, it had commenced mining and now the mineral was accumulating at the site with no space to store it.
It also sought clarity on whether the court's May 27 order would prohibit it from selling the coal it was mining.

The court, however, only suggested that CIL can sell the coal it was mining to JPL or hold a fresh e-auction in which the power company can participate and did not pass any order.
It listed the matter for further hearing on July 7.
CIL's application was filed in the main petition of JPL which has challenged a May 16 letter by which the PSU claimed the e-auction was cancelled.