Supreme Court appoints new judge for trial of Coalgate cases

The Supreme Court on Monday designated judicial officer Sunena Sharma as the special judge to preside over the cases related to the alleged illegalities in allocation of coal blocks across India.

A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi passed the order on an application moved by the Delhi High Court which said that the incumbent special judge Sanjay Bhansal has served on the post for over four and a half years.

"This application has been filed stating that present presiding officer Mr Sanjay Bhansal has served as judge for 4.5 years and thus be replaced now by another officer. High Court has also formally applied to relieve Mr Bhansal. High Court has handed over a sealed envelope naming three members of Delhi Higher Judicial service. We appoint Ms Sunaina Sharma, an officer of the Delhi Higher Judicial service as the special judge of the Coal block allocation scam case," the Court ordered.

The intervention was made in the Manohar Lal Sharma vs The Principle Secretary & Others case known as Coal scam case.

The request to relieve Bansal had been deferred last year. In April 2025, Additional Sessions Judge Dheeraj Mor was appointed as the Special Judge (PC Act) (CBI) (Coal Block Cases) -01.

In the Manohar Lal Sharma case, the top court has been monitoring the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the allocation of various coal blocks.

In 2014, Supreme Court had cancelled 214 coal block allocations made since 1993 and designated a special court for trial of the criminal cases being probed by the CBI.