Central Government Proposes Names Of Senior Advocate Maninder Singh and Lawyer Rajesh Batra As SPP In Coal Scam Matter; SC Reserves Order

A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde took note of Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta submitting the names of Singh and Batra for consideration after reservation was expressed by the Central Government with regard to the names of lawyers Satish Vasta and DP Singh which had been suggested by the Court.

The Court asked Senior Advocate RS Cheema, who sought to be relieved from the role as the SPP, whether both the lawyers, i.e. Singh and Batra, could be appointed.

At this juncture, Advocate ML Sharma, one of the Petitioners in the matter, stated that the lawyer appointed should be from the District Court due to the nature of cases, and that the lawyers suggested should not have had relations with the coal block allocation matters previously.

The Court also asked Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the Petitioner Common Cause, as to what he thought of the names that had been suggested.

Bhushan responded that the Court should not be swayed by the names put forth by the Central Government and should either consider the names proposed by Cheema or should come up with the names on its own.

"My suggestion is that the Court should go with the lawyers suggested by Mr. Cheema and should not be swayed by what the government wants. Complete independence is required. I don't know Mr. Batra. All I'm saying is that they should be independent from the government", stated Bhushan.

Accordingly, the Court proceeded to reserve the order in the matter.

In August 2014, the Supreme Court had quashed 214 coal block allocations that the Central Government had allocated between 1993 and 2010. A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India R.M. Lodha had cancelled all but 4 of 218 allocations, calling them arbitrary, illegal and amounting to unfair distribution of national wealth The decision had come in response to plea filed by NGO Common Cause and others challenging the legality of allocation of coal blocks to private companies from 1993 onwards.