'Loopholes' left in amended coal mines law to favour Adani: Cong

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Wednesday alleged that ''loopholes'' were left in the amended Coal Mines Act to favour the Adani group.

The Opposition party made the allegation in its daily posers to the government posted on Twitter as part of its ''Hum Adani ke Hain Kaun'' series.

''So more skeletons are tumbling out of the Modani coal cupboard. Here is HAHK (Hum Adani ke Hain Kaun)-19,'' Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on Twitter and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the ''Adani coal scam''.

He alleged that the government passed the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act on March 20, 2015, to implement the Supreme Court's decision to cancel and auction prior coal mine allocations.

''However Section 11(1) of the Act added a convenient loophole by permitting a new concessionaire to continue mining contracts signed by the previous allottee.

This led to the reappointment of the Adani Group by BJP state governments as mine developer and operator (MDO) for two mines, including the Parsa East and Kente Basan coal block in Chhattisgarh on March 26, 2015,'' Ramesh alleged.

He claimed that a subsequent NITI Aayog report critiquing this allotment has ''reportedly been suppressed''.

Ramesh alleged that the Adani group was the ''sole beneficiary of the Section 11(1) loophole''.

''Did you put any pressure on your officials to ensure that no retrospective changes are made that could damage the commercial interests and cash flows of your cronies,'' Ramesh asked. The Congress tweeted that ''as more information about the Adani coal scam enters public domain, Shri @Jairam_Ramesh confronts PM Modi with facts that prove that his government reallocated massive coal mines to Adani ji after writing enabling clauses in the new coal law''.

''We demand answers from the Pradhan Sevak,'' the party said on its Twitter handle, while sharing the questions posed by Ramesh.