In a major relief to Jindal Steel and Power Limited, the Central government was directed by the Delhi High Court on Monday to come up with a suitable answer as to why it had cancelled the coal allotment due to the private company by annulling the tender process and how it could allot the coal to a different company when the block had been earmarked for allocation through auction.
‘Maintain status quo’
When you have earmarked it for allocation, how can you allot it? How have you switched from allocation to allotment?” asked the court while also directing the government to maintain the “status quo,” and allot nothing until the next date of hearing on April 16.
The matter came up before the Bench of Justices B. D. Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva after Jindal Jindal Steel and Power Limited had appealed to the High Court against the decision of the government to cancel the coal blocks allocated to it earlier this month.
The court also asked the Coal Ministry to place before it all the documents pertaining to cancellation of the tender.
The private company’s lawyers told the court that the coal block which it had won by presenting the highest bid had been allotted to Coal India Limited.
PTI adds:
While passing the order on the Tara coal block, the court also asked the Coal Ministry how it can allot a mine to CIL when the block had been earmarked for allocation through auction.
