The Supreme Court on Friday directed that the November 9 e-auction of 37 coal blocks, including five in Jharkhand, shall be subject to its final order.
A Bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian asked the Centre to inform the bidders that benefits of any nature to them will be provisional and subject to the orders of the Supreme Court.
Attorney General K K Venugopal, appearing for the Centre, said no trees will be cut in the area.
On November 4, the Supreme Court had said it intended to pass an order that any proposed mining block within the 50 kilometer radius of an eco-sensitive zone will not be e-auctioned for commercial purposes in Jharkhand.
Maintaining that it only wants to ensure “forests are not destroyed”, the Court also said it was mulling over setting up of an expert committee to examine whether an area near the proposed mining sites in Jharkhand qualifies as eco-sensitive zone.
