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Coalgate fallout: No doling out mines to private players, Supreme Court says -Dhananjay Mahapatra
-The Times of India

The Supreme Court, while answering the presidential reference on the 2G judgment, took note of the coalgate scam that stalled Parliament and said whatever be the mode of allocation of natural resources, it can never be a handout for private players.

Justice JS Khehar agreed with the majority opinion of the constitution bench on the reference that auction could not be termed as the only constitutionally permissible mode for allocation of natural resources. However, in a separate opinion, he referred to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act to say the law allowed for the allocation of coal blocks through auction alone.

"For the grant of mining lease in respect of an area containing coal, the provision leaves no room for any doubt that selection would be made through auction by competitive bidding. No process other than auction can therefore be adopted for the grant of coal mining lease," Justice Khehar said after a detailed discussion of Section 11A of the MMDR Act.

Justice Khehar said natural resources could never be allotted free of cost or at a consideration lower than their actual cost as every bit of natural resource allotted must give back its worth to the country for greater common good of society.

He warned that if natural resources were given free of cost or at a price lower than their worth, it would lead to enrichment of a few at the cost of a large section of society. "That would not be fair or reasonable," Justice Khehar said.

"No part of the natural resource can be dissipated as a matter of largesse, charity, donation or endowment, for private exploitation. Each bit of natural resource expended must bring back reciprocal consideration. The consideration may be in the nature of earning revenue or may be to 'best subserve the common good'. It may well be the amalgamation of the two. There cannot be a dissipation of material resources free of cost or at a consideration lower than their actual worth. One set of citizens cannot prosper at the cost of another set of citizens, for that would not be fair or reasonable," Justice Khehar said in his separate opinion.

Referring to the CAG's stinging report on auction of coal blocks, the judge said, "One is compelled to take judicial note of the fact that allotment of natural resources is an issue of extensive debate in the country, so much so that the issue of such allocations had recently resulted in a washout of two sessions of Parliament. The report, it is alleged, points out that private and public sector companies had made windfall gains because the process of competitive bidding had not been adopted. The country witnessed similar political spat a little while earlier, based on the allocation of 2G spectrum."

Justice Khehar added, "On each occasion, when the issue of allocation of natural resources results in an alleged loss of revenue, it is portrayed as a loss to the nation. The issue then becomes a subject matter of considerable debate at all levels of the Indian polity. Loss of one essentially entails a gain to the other. On each such occasion, loss to the nation translates into the identification of private players as the beneficiaries. If one were to accept the allegations appearing in the media, on account of defects in the disposal mechanism, private parties have been beneficiaries to the tune of lakhs of crores of rupees, just for that reason. In the current debate (coalgate), rival political parties have made allegations against those responsible, which have been repudiated with counter allegations. This court is not, and should never be seen to be, a part of that debate."