A view of the Supreme Court of India in New Delhi. File
| Photo Credit: PTI
The Supreme Court on February 27 mentioned it would hear on March 14 the pleas related to a coal block allocation in Chhattisgarh to the Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited (RRVUNL) and mining operations by Adani Enterprise Limited (AEL).
A Bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud was informed by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, showing for RRVUNL, that the extraction of coal is halted and the entire matter is at “standstill” and therefore, the case wanted to be heard.
“We will list it immediately after the Holi vacation on a non-miscellaneous day. We list it on March 14,” mentioned the Bench which additionally comprised Justices P.S. Narasimha and J.B. Pardiwala.
The State agency had made a press release in October final 12 months earlier than the court docket that no coal can be extracted earlier than the matter is heard, Mr. Rohatgi mentioned, including that, nevertheless, the matter has not been listed for listening to since then.
The prime court docket had earlier mentioned that it’ll hear the pleas on March 2.
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Out of three pending pleas, one is a PIL filed by Dinesh Kumar Soni, an activist from Chhattisgarh, looking for cancellation of the coal block allotted in the State to RRVUNL and the mining operations by AEL for allegedly violating the environmental clearance granted by the Environment Ministry.
Two different petitions have been filed by RRVUNL and Hasdeo Arand Bachao Sangharsh Samiti respectively.
Earlier on July 15, 2022, lawyer Prashant Bhushan had talked about Mr. Soni’s PIL for pressing listening to which was thought of by a Bench headed by the then CJI N.V. Ramana.
Mr. Bhushan had mentioned the apex court docket issued a discover on the PIL in April 2019 and after that it has not been listed for listening to.
The PIL has sought a CBI probe into the coal block allocation.
Mr. Soni has additionally sought a course to RRVUNL to cancel its three way partnership and coal mining supply settlement with AEL and Parsa Kente Collieries Limited (PKCL), a three way partnership between the RRVUNL and the AEL, with the latter being the bulk stakeholder.
Challenging the PKCL’s shareholding sample, the PIL mentioned, RRVUNL has 26% stake in the three way partnership and Adani 74%.
The petition sought the apex court docket’s instructions to the Centre to cancel the allocation of the Parsa East and Kanta-Basan (PEKB), Parsa and Kente Extension coal blocks to the RRVUNL.
The mining operations have been allegedly violating the circumstances of the environmental clearance granted to the RRVUNL by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (now the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate) in regards to the PEKB open-cast coal mine challenge.
In June 2007, the PEKB block was allotted to the RRVUNL for Chhabra and different energy vegetation and the RRVUNL selected the AEL as mine developer and operator, it mentioned.
The NGT had quashed the forest clearance for the challenge in March 2014 because the mine was positioned in A dense forest and declared a “no-go” space for mining after a joint examine by the Ministry of Environment and Forest and the Ministry of Coal.
