Thu Jan 16 07:00:07 UTC 2025: ## Supreme Court Justice Recuses Himself from Coal Scam Cases
**New Delhi, January 16, 2025** – Supreme Court Justice K.V. Viswanathan recused himself on Thursday from hearing cases related to the coal scam. Justice Viswanathan stated that he had previously represented one of the parties involved in the case as a lawyer.
The cases before the court seek a modification of earlier Supreme Court orders that prevented high courts from hearing appeals against trial court decisions in criminal cases stemming from the alleged illegal allocation of coal blocks.
Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna, leading the bench, announced the formation of a new three-judge bench to hear the cases beginning the week of February 10th. Justice Viswanathan will not be part of this new bench. The reconstituted bench will review the scope of appeals and the applicability of the 2014 and 2017 rulings that restricted high court jurisdiction. The Supreme Court registry has been tasked with compiling all pending petitions related to these judgments.
The court’s 2014 decision quashed the allocation of 214 coal blocks and mandated trials overseen by a special CBI judge. The order specified that any requests for stays or impediments to investigations or trials must be made directly to the Supreme Court, effectively barring other courts from considering such pleas. The key question the new bench will address is whether those seeking a stay of trial must follow the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) or can file a Special Leave Petition (SLP) directly with the Supreme Court.
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