The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice on a contempt petition by Centre to initiate proceedings against several public sector companies who had yet not paid the penalty of Rs295 per tonne for illegal extraction of coal.
In its order cancelling 214 coal blocks passed on September 24, 2014, the Court had allowed coal firms who were allowed to operate to deposit the sum of Rs295 per ton of coal extracted by them since the date of allotment.
The Bench headed by Justice Madan B lokur issued notices to the defaulting companies after Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi argued that the defaulters were violating the order and causing loss to the exchequer to the tune of thousands of crores of rupees.
The bench, also comprising Justices Kurian Joseph and AK Sikri posted the matter for hearing on September 7. The penalty was to compensate for the loss suffered by the Government on account of the coal extracted by the illegal allotment. This amount was to be paid for coal extracted till March 31, 2015.
The AG argued that the companies headed by their MD and Directors were answerable for their willful disobedience to Court order, which undermined the dignity and authority of the apex court. The defaulting units, included WBPDCl, the Durgapur Projects ltd, Bengal Emta Coal Mines limited, BlA Industries Pvt ltd, Arunachal Pradesh Mineral Development & Trading Corporation ltd Itanagar, WB Mineral Development and Trading Corporation limited and Damodar Valley Corporation.