First conviction in the coal blocks allocation scam

Coal mining in India has primarily been driven by the need for energy domestically.  About 55% of the current commercial energy use is met by coal.  The power sector is the major consumer of coal, using about 80% of domestically produced coal.
The Ministry of Coal has the overall responsibility of managing coal reserves in the country.  Coal India Limited, established in 1975, is a public sector undertaking, which looks at the production and marketing of coal in India.  Currently, the sector is regulated by the ministry’s Coal Controller’s Organization.
The Coal Mines (Nationalization) Act, 1973 (CMN Act) is the primary legislation determining the eligibility for coal mining in India.
Till 1993, there were no specific criteria for the allocation of captive coal blocks.  Captive mining for coal was allowed in 1993 by amendments to the CMN Act.  In 1993, a Screening Committee was set up by the Ministry of Coal to provide recommendations on allocations for captive coal mines.  All allocations to private companies were made through the Screening Committee.  For government companies, allocations for captive mining were made directly by the ministry.
In August 2012, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India released a report on the coal block allocations.Following this report, in September 2012, a Public Interest Litigation matter was filed in the Supreme Court against the coal block allocations. In September 2014, the Supreme Court declared all allocations of coal blocks, made through the Screening Committee and through Government Dispensation route since 1993, as illegal.  It cancelled the allocation of 204 out of 218 coal blocks.  The allocations were deemed illegal on the grounds that: (i) the allocation procedure followed by the Screening Committee was arbitrary, and (ii) no objective criterion was used to determine the selection of companies.  Further, the allocation procedure was held to be impermissible under the CMN Act.
The 2015 Bill creates three categories of mines, Schedule I, II and III.  Schedule I consists of all the 204 mines that were cancelled by the Supreme Court.  Of these mines, Schedule II consists of all the 42 mines that are under production and Schedule III consists of 32 mines that have a specified end-use such as power, iron and steel, cement and coal washing.In addition, the Bill also provides details on authorities that would conduct the auction and allotment and the compensation for prior allottees.One of the major policy shifts the 2015 Bill seeks to achieve is to enable private companies to mine coal in the future, in order to improve the supply of coal in the market.  Currently, the coal sector is regulated by the Coal Controller’s Organization, which is under the Ministry of Coal. The Bill provides broad details of the process of auction and allotment.
A special court on Monday convicted Jharkhand Ispat Pvt Ltd and it’s two directors for cheating, criminal conspiracy, with the court observing that they “deceived”  and “misled” the government by “false” claims to “fraudulently” acquire coal blocks.
The Rungtas, who were on bail and were present in the court room, were taken into custody. The court fixed March 31 for hearing arguments on the quantum of the sentence.