Recently, Supreme Court Judge Justice K.V. Viswanathan recused himself from hearing coal scam cases, citing his prior involvement as a lawyer in one of the matters.

The petitions before the court seek modifications to earlier Supreme Court orders, which had prohibited high courts from hearing appeals against trial court rulings in criminal cases connected to the alleged illegal allocation of coal blocks.

Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna, leading the bench alongside Justices Sanjay Kumar and Viswanathan, announced that a new three-judge bench would be constituted to hear the cases in the week starting February 10.

The bench examined the scope of appeals and the relevance of earlier orders restricting high courts from hearing such cases. It directed the Supreme Court registry to compile a comprehensive list of pending petitions tied to the 2014 and 2017 judgments, which had barred high courts from taking up interlocutory appeals.

The order stated: “The registry shall prepare a compilation of all cases where special leave petitions (SLPs) have been filed in relation to the 2014 and 2017 judgments… A fresh bench, excluding Justice Viswanathan, will be formed in the week beginning February 10, 2025. A key question will be whether individuals seeking a trial stay should follow the CrPC procedure or instead file an SLP before the Supreme Court.”

At the start of the proceedings, Justice Viswanathan explained that he had been involved in the "Common Cause" case, which was connected to the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) involvement in the coal scam matter.

In 2014, the Supreme Court annulled the allocation of 214 coal blocks by the Centre between 1993 and 2010, following public interest litigations. The Court ordered a trial to be conducted by a special CBI judge and specified that any requests to stay or hinder the investigation or trial could only be addressed by the Supreme Court, thereby preventing other courts from hearing such applications.