Goyal welcomes SC ruling declaring all coal allocations illegal

Coal and power minister Piyush Goyal on Monday welcomed the Supreme Court's verdict declaring all coal block allocations since 1993 illegal, and said his government would act quickly after the court delivers the final order.

He was talking to reporters after the Supreme Court declared illegal all coal block allocations between 1993 and 2010, saying these were done in an unfair, arbitrary and non-transparent manner.

"I would look forward to finality in the matter of coal block allocations, which have for several years now kept the sector in limbo, and with the finality that one can expect very soon, I hope that the sector can start progressing," Goyal said.

Meanwhile Congress leader and former union minister Manish Tewari, reacting to the verdict, said their "stand has been vindicated as this is precisely what the Congress has been saying".

He said the process followed between 2004 and 2009 when the UPA was in power was the same that was being followed between 1993 and 2004 when others including the BJP-led NDA government were in power.

"Therefore, if the Supreme Court has come to a conclusion with regards to the entire period between 1993 to 2009 and the conclusion is uniform in nature, it obviously vindicates what we are saying," he said.

The BJP was officially cautious in its reaction. "We are studying the Supreme Court ruling and will come out with our response only after that," BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said.