Zee Media Bureau/Ritesh K Srivastava
New Delhi: The Centre on Wednesday endorsed the Supreme Court`s observation in the coal blocks allocation same that matters related to the case should not be kept pending for long an said that it had issued notices to private firms asking them to clear deficiencies within six weeks.
According to reports, the Centre today told the apex court that with respect to the 41 companies given licences for coal exploration in 61 blocks have been asked to clear deficiencies within 4-6 weeks for obtaining mining lease.
The Centre also sought a permission from the apex court to put forward to the Home Ministry the proposal for issuance of Letters Rogatory to foreign countries in its probe into coal scam.
The centre further informed the highest court that the 41 companies have been given notices asking why their allocations should not be cancelled.
The private companies involved in the case have been given three weeks time to respond to Centre`s notice and the government will have one week after that to study the company`s responses, as per reports.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had met on Monday to discuss the criteria for de-allocation of coal block licences in the coalgate scam.
The meeting came in the wake of the Central Bureau of Investigation producing a fresh status report in the coal scam before Supreme Court on Monday.
An inter-ministerial group had earlier reviewed and decided to de-allocate 218 coal blocks. Notices were issued to 47 blocks but a decision is still pending on 29 cases.
The Attorney General had recommended the Supreme Court to put a clear-cut criteria for de-allocation.
During a previous hearing in the case, the Centre had admitted before the Supreme Court that something went wrong with the coal blocks allocation and that it could have been done in a more refined manner.
"We took decision in good faith but something turned out to be wrong," Attorney General Goolam E Vahanvati had told a three-judge bench headed by Justice R M Lodha.
"In hindsight, we can say something has gone wrong and some correction is required to be done," he said, virtually accepting that mistakes were committed by the government in coal blocks allocation.
Vahanvati`s response came after the bench observed that the exercise could have been done in a "far better manner".
The AG had in September 2013 submitted that coal blocks allocation was merely a letter of intent and does not confer any right to the companies over the natural resource which is decided by the state government.
He had contended that decision of coal blocks allocation to companies is only the first stage and firms get rights over coal only when they start mining for which they have to take various clearances.
The mining states of Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, however, had earlier told the apex court that coal blocks allocation was "entirely controlled and regulated" by the Centre and they only played a minimal role in the whole exercise.
The court is scrutinising coal blocks allocation since 1993 on three PILs seeking cancellation of blocks on the ground that rules were flouted in giving away the natural resource and that certain companies were favoured in the process.
