Coal consumers in West Bengal may get a reprieve from new prices (effected since January 1) till January 16, as the Calcutta High Court has asked Coal India to consider maintaining status quo till January 16.

CIL officials, however, told Business Line that they were yet to get any official communication on the issue.

The Court observation came on January 6 during the hearing of a public interest litigation by Howrah Ganatantrik Nagarik Samity accusing the coal major of making abnormal profits through frequent price rise in the last three years.

The petitioners felt that CIL was making use of the price decontrol in 2000, in the absence of a regulator and extracting higher profit primarily by raising prices without making adequate efforts to improve productivity and reduce the cost of operations.

Talking on behalf of the petitioners, chartered accountant turned social activist, Mr Subhash Dutta said that though the PIL was admitted by the court before the latest price rise, the issue came upon hearing as the petitioners filed supplementary affidavit.

(Sourced from BL)