JUDGMENT :

Rajesh Shankar, J.

The judgment is being pronounced today through virtual mode.

2. The present writ petition has been preferred for quashing letter bearing F.No.103/8/2016/NA dated 11.11.2020 (Annexure-17 to the writ petition) issued by the Additional Secretary to the Government of India-cum-Nominated Authority, Ministry of Coal, New Delhi (respondent no.2) whereby, in purported exercise of power conferred under Clause 24.3.2 of the allotment agreement, it has been decided to terminate the allotment agreement dated 24.08.2016 signed between the respondent no. 2 and the petitioner as well as the allotment order no. 103/08/2016/NA dated 29.09.2016 along with all the amendments/corrigendums issued in respect of Patal East Coal Mine. It has further been directed to treat the aforesaid letter as notice under Clause 24.3.2 of the said agreement and upon completion of 15 business days of the said notice i.e. from 02.12.2020, the aforesaid termination order would be effective. Moreover, the Branch Manager, Union Bank of India, JSMDC Branch, Ranchi (the respondent no. 4) has been requested to treat the said notice as demand and to encash the Bank Guarantee No. 52890IGL0000116 dated 23.09.2016 issued in favour of the President of India acting through central government represented by the respondent no. 2 and transfer the amount of Rs.52,86,40,000/- (entire guaranteed amount under the said bank guarantee) to the account of Pay & Accounts Officer, Ministry of Coal maintained in United Bank of India at Connaught circus Branch, New Delhi bearing account no. 0276050414586.

3. The factual background of the case, as stated in the writ petition, is that after bifurcation of the State of Bihar and creation of State of Jharkhand, the petitioner company was incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 in the year 2002 and the assets and liabilities of its predecessor company i.e. Bihar State Mineral Development Corporation, fell within the territory of State of Jharkhand and came under the jurisdiction of the petitioner which is involved in carrying out mining activities and exploration of mineral in the State of Jharkhand. The Hon’ble Supreme Court, vide its judgment dated 25.08.2014, read with order dated 24.09.2014 passed in the case of Manohar Lal Sharma Vs. the Principle Secretary & Others reported in (2014) 9 SCC 516 cancelled the allocation of 204 Coal Blocks. Subsequently, the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Ordinance, 2014 and Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Second Ordinance, 2014 were issued by the Central Government as well as Rules were also framed whereby provisions have been made for auction and allotment of all coal blocks which suffered cancellation by virtue of the aforesaid judgment and order of the Hon’ble Supreme Court. As per Section 6(1) of the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015 (in short, “the Act, 2015”), the Central Government appointed respondent no. 2 as the Nominated Authority to allocate coal mines/coal blocks under Schedule 1 of the Act, 2015. The Ministry of Coal, Government of India, vide order no. 13016/9/2014-CA-III dated 16.03.2016, issued a list of 16 Coal Blocks whereby 8 Coal Blocks including Patal East Coal Block (in short ‘PECB’) situated in the State of Jharkhand were identified for allocation to Public Sector Undertakings of the Host State and another 8 Coal Blocks were identified for allocation to other than Host State. The Managing Director of the petitioner, vide letter no. 679 dated 21.04.2016, requested the Department of Industry, Mines and Geology, Government of India to take necessary steps for allotment of PECB in its favour. The petitioner, thereafter, downloaded the necessary documents as indicated in the allotment document i.e. geological report, mine plan, mine closure plan etc. from the website of MSTC and submitted its bid on the MSTC website on 21.07.2016. The aforesaid documents were prepared by the prior allottee being M/s. Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd. whose allocation was canc