The Supreme Court on Monday appointed Arun Bhardwaj and Sanjay Bansal as Special Judges to preside over two separate courts and continue trials in 41 pending cases in connection with the coal block allocation scam.
A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde decided on the two senior judges on the basis of a panel of names handed over by the Delhi High Court Registrar General.
On March 15, the Bench asked the Delhi High Court Chief Justice to share the names of judges of “high calibre and absolute integrity” to take over the trials.
The two judges will replace Judge Bharat Parashar.
According to a communication from the Delhi High Court, Judge Parashar “needed to be replaced, as he has now completed more than six years in the same post after having been posted as Special Judge in the above-mentioned court since August 19, 2014”.
The top court’s order referred to how the cases had been pending for about six years when the law required them to be disposed of in two years.
The Comptroller and Auditor General report tabled in Parliament in 2012 pegged the losses to the exchequer due to alleged irregularities in the allocation of blocks at nearly ₹2 lakh crore. Multiple charge sheets have been filed in the cases since 2012.
