The Supreme Court cancels 214 coal blocks after labeling their allocation ad-hoc and illegal. The SC has however spared four coal blocks that are govt run. The SC order will become operational in four months. The CBI enquiry into the coal scam will however continue.

On August 25, the Supreme Court held that all coal blocks allocations since 1993 by various regimes at the Centre have been made illegally and arbitrarily.

The apex court, which had used almost all terms to condemn the procedures adopted by 36 screening committee meetings since 1993, however, had stopped short of cancelling them saying, "what should be the consequences, is the issue which remains to be tackled.'

The court, which examined the allocation of 218 blocks in pre-auction era till 2010, had held that they were done in an illegal manner by an "ad-hoc and casual' approach "without application of mind' and "Common good and public interest have, thus, suffered heavily' due to lack of fair and transparent procedure resulting in "unfair distribution' of the "national wealth''"coal'""which is king and paramount lord of industry.'