A bench of justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva issued notice to the Coal Ministry and sought its response by March 19 on PIL's plea.
The court also asked the government to file detailed counter-affidavits in the similar pleas filed by GVK Power (Goindwal Sahib) Ltd, Jayaswal Neco Industries Ltd (JNIL), Jindal Power Ltd and Jindal Steel and Power Ltd, by March 19.
It also said the interim order regarding auction of blocks, which these companies were earlier allotted and the allocation of which were cancelled by Supreme Court, would continue.
During the proceedings, senior advocate P Chidambaram, appearing for GVK, said it was in possession of a fully operational coal mine - Tokisud north coal block in Jharkhand - which it has to hand over on March 31.
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He argued that before the company hands over the mine, the court has to decide whether the principles adopted by the government to compute and determine compensation was correct.