New Delhi: Supreme Court judge Justice K V Viswanathan on Thursday opted out from the hearing on cases related to the coal scam, saying he had appeared in one of the matters as a lawyer.
The matter came up before a bench led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and comprising Justices Sanjay Kumar and Viswanathan. Justice Vishwanathan said he was in "the Common Cause (the NGO, which had filed the PIL in coal scam cases) case. This case was of the ED (Enforcement Directorate), but still…".
After Justice Viswanathan said he would recuse from the hearing, the CJI said he would reconstitute a fresh three-judge bench to hear the cases in the week commencing February 10.
The pleas before the bench sought modification of earlier Supreme Court orders, which barred the high courts from taking up appeals against trial court orders passed in criminal cases related to alleged illegal coal block allocations.
The bench examined the scope of appeals and the applicability of earlier orders restricting high courts from hearing these cases. The bench asked its registry to prepare a comprehensive compilation of all pending petitions in connection with the 2014 and 2017 judgments, which barred the high court from hearing interlocutory appeals.
"The fresh bench shall exclude Justice Vishwanathan and shall be formed in the week commencing February 10,2025. Key question will be: whether or not one who seeks stay of trial will not go by the procedure of CrPC but instead file a SLP in the Supreme Court," said the bench, in its order.
In 2014, the apex court quashed 214 coal blocks allocated by the Centre between 1993 and 2010 after taking note of the PILs and ordered a trial by a special CBI judge. The apex court directed that any prayer for a stay or to impede the investigation or the trial could only be made before it.
