In a setback to Naveen Jindal-controlled Jindal Power (JPL), the Delhi High Court (HC) on Thursday declared the company as the unsuccessful bidder for two coal blocks. The order has come as a legal endorsement of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government’s auctioning of coal mining rights. There were two other breakthrough orders associated with the coal block e-auction held in 2015-16.
The first case pertained to the two coal blocks — Tara in West Bengal and Gare Palma IV/2&3 in Jharkhand. Though JPL emerged the winning bidder, the coal ministry did not approve the bids received for these coal