Coal Mining: Supreme Court makes November 9 e-auction in Jharkhand subject to its orders, bid allocations to be "provisional"

The Supreme Court today refused to halt the November 9 e-auction of coal blocks in Jharkhand, while clarifying that any action of the Centre "in the will be subject to its orders..The Court has further directed that any allocations that might take place will be "provisional" in nature.."Respondent will inform the recipient of any benefit that the matter is provisional and subject to orders from this Court", stated the Bench comprising Chief Justice of India SA Bobde and Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian..In the meantime, any action in the matter that may be taken by the defendant(s) shall be subject to the orders of this Court. The defendant(s) shall take care to inform any recipient of any benefit of any nature that the action is provisional in the sense that it will be subject to the orders that may be passed by this Court.Says the order.Senior Advocate Fali Nariman, representing the State of Jharkhand, requested the Court to issue directions so that no trees are cut in the process..Attorney General KK Venugopal assured the Court "that no trees will be cut" and mining would not start in the interim..In the last hearing, AG Venugopal had argued that stopping the auction would cripple the infrastructural and developmental process..Commercial Coal Mining: "Any violation in eco-sensitive zone will be stopped", Supreme Court allows AG to prove why auction need not be stayed.By way of background, shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi started the process of auctioning coal blocks for commercial mining, the Government of Jharkhand had moved the Supreme Court to postpone the auction..The plea challenging the process of commercial coal mining states that there is a need for fair assessment of the social and environmental impact of the same "on the huge ‘tribal population’ and vast tracts of ‘Forest lands’ of the State and its residents which are likely to be adversely affected.".The Bench was keen to understand what impact the project would have on eco-sensitive zones. It thus considered appointing an expert committee to submit a report analysing the environmental impact the project will have..While the Bench mulled over names for the committee, AG Venugopal read out a report stating that the mining sites were at a distance of 20 to 70 kms from eco-sensitive zones..To this, CJI Bobde had observed,"The whole issue of looking at forests is wrong. We don't want to stop the development of the country, but will not lead to erosion of the natural resources. You attach economic value to timber, but not the forest. The distance of 70, 79 or 20 kms is dangerously close isn't it?".The plea categorically notes that the Mineral Laws Amendment Act, 2020 lapsed on May 14, and thus, the process of auction has begun in the face of the "legal vacuum" created in the absence of the amendment act..The petition, which is accompanied by a letter for urgent listing, states this in the backdrop of the August 2019 decision of the Union Cabinet to allow 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Coal Mining..The Mineral Laws Amendment Ordinance, 2020, promulgated in January, permitted foreign companies to participate in commercial coal mining through auctions. This provision was retained in the Mineral Laws (Amendment) Act, 2020, which was repealed within sixty days of its passing. Thus, the petitioners contend that the provision allowing foreign companies to take part in mining has also lapsed..After the Act lapsed in May, Section 11A of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 was restored as it stood before the January Ordinance and the subsequent Act..The Centre’s decision to start the process for auctioning 41 coal blocks for commercial mining is open for domestic as well as global firms under the 100% FDI route, and is aimed at making India self-reliant in the energy sector..The plea challenging the Centre's decision questions what happened between August 2019 - when Union Cabinet decided to allow 100% FDI in commercial coal mining - and March 13, 2020 that necessitated the Mineral Laws (Amendment), 2020, to be a temporary law..Further, it questions whether the "flip-flop policy" on a strategically and economically important ingredient of the energy basket of the country - that too within such a short span of time - would boost investors' confidence, especially in the post-COVID-19 scenario..(Read order)