Coal blocks allocation case exposes all govts since 1993 onwards

From: AAP MEDIA CELL <aapmediacell8@gmail.com> Mon, 25 Aug '14 5:40p

To: undisclosed-recipients:;

Show full Headers

                                              Monday, August 25

The Aam Aadmi Party welcomes the Supreme Court decision declaring the allocation of 218 coal blocks allocated by successive governments between 1993 and 2010 as illegal, arbitrary and non-transparent.

The Supreme Court’s view will go a long way in protecting the natural resources of the country which have been mercilessly plundered by different political parties in power at the Centre, with the sole motive of allowing corporate houses to make huge financial gains at the cost of the country.

It may be recalled that when Arvind Kejriwal and his colleagues had undertaken an indefinite fast in July 2012, demanding a CBI probe against corrupt UPA ministers, one of their key demands was cancellation of these coal blocks.

The then UPA government and many other parties, including the BJP had ridiculed the demand of Kejriwal and his colleagues at that time. The AAP would like to ask these parties, what they have to say now.

The AAP will now wait for the final verdict of the Supreme Court on September 1, but it is very clear that all allocations made during the 17 year period mentioned above are now clearly illegal and have no legal effect any longer.

The only question that the country’s top court has left open to be decided now is what would happen in those few cases where the state governments have signed mining leases and people are actually mining.

Without exception, all governments since 1993 beginning with the late PV Narasimha Rao’s regime till the Manmohan Singh government, including the Atal Behari Vajpayee government, have been held responsible of having allocated coal blocks through the unfair route of screening committees.  

The AAP demands that the BJP’s central government should immediately cancel all these allocations without waiting any further, since the Supreme Court direction is absolutely clear in this regard.

Regards.

AAP Media cell