BackCoal scam case enters next stage
The case slowly moving into a phase where public figures involved during 1993-2010 are being brought to court
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New Delhi: The case related to irregularities in the allotment of coal mines is entering the next phase. The last few months have witnessed summons being issued, charges being framed and a former prime minister, coal ministers and public servants dragged into the process.
The saga that began with irregularities in coal block allocations between 1993 and 2010 and ended with the Supreme Court cancelling allocations of 204 blocks in August 2014 is slowly moving into a phase where public figures involved at the time are being brought to court, leading to cross-litigation with appeals in the Supreme Court. For example, in the case of former prime minister and one time coal minister, Manmohan Singh, the apex court on 1 April stayed the summons issued against him in relation to the allocation of one of the Talabira blocks in Odisha.
On 14 July, Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda, former coal secretary H.C. Gupta and a Jharkhand chief secretary had charges framed against them in relation to irregular allocation of a Jharkhand coal block. Earlier, Congress leader Naveen Jindal and several others were summoned in relation to the allotment of another block in Jharkhand.
A Comptroller and Auditor General report in 2012 said that not following the auction process to allocate coal mines could have caused a loss of ₹ 1.86 trillion to the exchequer.
Meanwhile, the current Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance at the centre is going ahead full steam to clean up after the Supreme Court verdict.
The Central government is auctioning, in phases, coal block licences that the apex court cancelled.
The first two phases of the auctions have garnered around ₹ 2 lakh crore.
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