Odishatv Bureau
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the petition of Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) and Sainik Mining & Allied Services Ltd (SMASL), a Delhi-based private firm, seeking cancellation of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) which prayed the court to dismiss the joint venture of OMC and SMASL to raise coal from a coal block in Angul district.
 
The court posted the next hearing to March 12 and directed CBI which is investigating the controversial OMC-Sainik deal to submit the status report within a month.
 
Reacting to the hearing, Purna Chandra Sahoo of Talcher who filed the PIL said “As two cases are pending in Orissa High Court and the main case in the Supreme Court, our counsel argued the case needs to be continued and the court, taking cognizance, fixed March 12 for the next hearing”
 
Sahoo filed the PIL in the Supreme Court seeking cancellation of the controversial pact between OMC and SMASL. He also sought CBI probe into the deal alleging criminal conspiracy in the pact which agreed to raise coal from Utkal-D cola block at Talcher in Angul. The petition mentioned that formation of joint venture violated Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act-1973 as the state owned OMC conceded 74 per cent stake to the Delhi based private firm while it kept only 26 per cent share for coal mining.
 
CBI Director, Union coal secretary, Secretary, ministry of environment and forest, state chief secretary, state steel and mines secretary, OMC and SMASL were made parties in the case.
 
The SMASL filed the petition in the Apex Court seeking cancellation of the PIL citing that state government had cancelled the joint venture made between the two. 
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