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SC notice to Centre, states on plea to cancel 358 mining leases
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SME Times News Bureau | 17 Apr, 2019
The Supreme Court on Tuesday
sought response from the Centre, Odisha, Karnataka and the CBI on a PIL
seeking cancellation of 358 iron ore mining leases which were allocated
or their duration extended without any fresh evaluation and adopting the
due auction process.
Also seeking response on the plea for
quashing of Section 8A of the Mines and Minerals (Development and
Regulation) Act, 1957, the bench of Justice S.A. Bobde and Justice S.
Abdul Nazeer appointed senior counsel P.S. Narasimha as amicus curiae to
assist the court in the matter.
The PIL says that the Section 8A
of the MMDR Act, 1957, which provides for grant of a mining lease for
minerals other than coal, lignite and atomic minerals, is "illegal,
arbitary and unconstitutional".
The Section 8A, inserted by the
MMDR amendment Act, "is a clear violation of Art 14 and 21 of the
Constitution" ... (and) has created serious financial and other injuries
to the general public at large...", says the PIL.
Petitioner
advocate Mahohar Lal Sharma has contended that the extension of iron ore
mining leases was in breach of the top court's 2012 verdict, according
to which mines could be leased only after valuation and auction and not
free. The court had said this while answering the Presidential reference
on the allocation of natural resources.
The five-judge
constitution bench of the top court by its September 27, 2012 majority
judgment had said that the auction could be a better option where the
aim is maximisation of revenue, but then "every method other than
auction of natural resources cannot be shut down".
Besides
seeking a court-monitored probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation
(CBI) into the allocation or extension of mining leases, the PIL
petitioner has also sought directions for the recovery of the market
value of the mined iron ore.
Petitioner Sharma has sought
direction "to quash allotment/ extension/ continuation of more than 358
mines of iron ore and other minerals all over India, stating that the
leases have been either granted or extended to the firms without any
fresh evaluation and adopting the auction process".
Alleging
conspiracy, the PIL petitioner has sought direction to the investigating
agency to register an FIR and probe the allocation of iron ore mines
without following the due procedure, thereby causing huge loss to the
exchequer.
Seeking the recovery of the losses caused to the
public exchequer by the mining companies, the petitioner has said that
the 358 mines leases, whose quashing he has sought, be put to auction.
Sharma
has contended that the mining leases extended in 2014-2015 in return
for alleged large donations has created a serious financial loss to the
state exchequer -- to the tune of Rs 4 lakh crore.
In all, 288 of these mining leases have been extended till 2020 and the remaing 70 till 2030.
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