New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday questioned the Centre's power to allocate coal blocks to firms, saying it has a lot of "legal explanation" to do as the relevant Act in fact empowers only states to undertake this task.

The top court said despite the fact that the Centre had already allocated more than 200 captive coal blocks to public and private sector companies, it is planning to allocate more. While the Centre allocates the blocks, mining leases are being granted by the concerned states, subject to the condition that Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act and and Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act (MMDR)1957 must be complied with.