Chief minister Hemant Soren thanked the Supreme Court on Tuesday for agreeing to hear the state government’s petition filed against the Centre’s move to auction coal blocks for commercial mining, hours after the apex court sent a notice to the government of India seeking a reply within four weeks.

“I would like to thank the Hon'ble Supreme Court for today's directives. As reiterated before, Jharkhand Govt is committed to an inclusive welfare centric development model safeguarding environment, forests and our forest dwelling communities; minimising socio-environmental impact,” he tweeted.

State finance minister Rameshwar Oraon on the other hand said they were hopeful of getting justice from the apex court soon. Accusing the Centre of playing to its “loyal capitalist friends”, the minister said, “The Centre’s hasty move to auction coal blocks for commercial mining is intended to help a few corporate entities fill their own coffers. The state government had requested the Centre in the past to defer the auction process for few months in the interest of the state and consult all stakeholders. However, Centre didn’t pay heed to our request forcing us to knock judiciary’s doors,” he said.

Oraon also accused the Centre of undermining the state government’s role by initiating auction of 41 blocks, 20 of which are in Jharkhand. “Under the federal system, states should have been consulted by the Centre before going for auctioning but it wasn’t done,” he said.