Coal scam: Supreme Court seeks proposals for Special Public Prosecutor to replace RS Cheema

The Supreme Court today asked Senior Advocate RS Cheema and Solicitor General for India Tushar Mehta to suggest candidates for appointment as Special Public Prosecutor in the Coal Scam case..Cheema, who was the Court-appointed Special Public Prosecutor in the case, had sought to be relieved from the position earlier this year. The Supreme Court Bench of Chief Justice of India SA Bobde and Justices BR Gavai and Surya Kant has therefore asked for names to potentially replace Cheema..Additionally, the Enforcement Directorate has also sought to repatriate some officials involved in the probe to their home cadres. However, the Court was not inclined to consider this request, observing that it would be against the “basic tenets” to transfer officials when the probe is on. SG Mehta has sought to take further instructions on this aspect..Last September, Senior Advocate Cheema had requested that he be relieved as the Special Public Prosecutor for the Enforcement Directorate in the Coal Scam case, citing lack of public prosecutors to deal with the mountain of work in the case. Cheema informed the Court that as many as 20 complaints by the ED have been filed in the Coal Scam case, but cognizance has been taken only in four thus far. There is only one other prosecutor appointed to assist Cheema with these cases..However, Cheema stated that he would not be opposed to continuing as the SPP for the Central Bureau of Investigation..In 2014, the Supreme Court had cancelled 214 coal block allocations made since 1993 shortly after a judgment declaring all coal block allocations as illegal. The trial in the Coal Scam case is being monitored by a dedicated Bench of the Supreme Court since 2013. The last Special Bench for this case was headed by Justice AK Sikri until his retirement in March this year..[Read Order]