The Supreme Court Thursday questioned the Centre's "authority" and the "very foundation" of its policy to allocate coal blocks, pointing out that its power to allot the mineral prima facie lacked legal sanction and was also "doubtful" in view of the current legal regime.

Putting the Centre in a tight spot for the second time in a week, a bench led by Justice R M Lodha underlined that the Mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development) Act did not give any authorisation to the government to decide who should be allocated coal blocks in the states.