Madras HC sets aside Single Bench order in Indian Bureau of Mines and VV Mineral case

Court asked Bureau to issue the memo again and the company to resubmit its draft scheme after that for beach sand mining

The Madras High Court has set aside an order of a Single Bench, which quashed the order of the Indian Bureau of Mines refusing the mining scheme of VV Mineral and Transworld Garnet India. Observing that the Single Bench order is "practically bereft of any reason", the Division Bench remitted the matter to the authorities.

In an order issued on Tuesday, Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice T S Sivagnanam observed that the order of the Single Bench issued on July, 2014, "is practically bereft of any reasons, nor does it deal with respective submissions of the learned counsel for the parties".

The Court observed that the submission of the companies to the Court was that they should be given a chance to cure the defects to be examined by the Bureau, in the draft mining scheme. The Division Bench ordered that all compliances will be re-submitted and thereafter, it will be examined in accordance with law by the authority.

It also ordered the Bureau to issue the returned memo in the form issued earlier specifying as to what has not been complied with, to the two companies within two weeks adding that the period within which the draft scheme has to be re-submitted by them would only commence after that.

The dispute is related to the requirements to be fulfilled for submission of a mining scheme, on which the company said that it has complied with while the Bureau said it has not complied with. The draft scheme was submitted by the company, but there were certain objections raised by the Bureau. The Bureau did not allow the scheme alleging that the companies failed to remove all the defects in the draft scheme, when it was re-submitted in January, 2014.

The companies approached the Single Bench seeking re-consideration of the issue, that is, if in the opinion of the Bureau some aspects still remain to be unattended, they were willing to do so.

The Additional Solicitor General argued that even before the counter-affidavit could be filed, the matters were allowed by an elaborate order by the Single Bench. He also submitted on behalf of the Bureau that in view of the subsequent communication issued returning the draft scheme, it should be specifically pointed out while re-submitting the application, whether no part of the mining lease area falls between High tide line (HTL) and Low tide line (LTL).

According to legal experts, mining scheme is a tentative plan submitted by the licensee, who has the approval from the government for a long term for mining, detailing its plans for a shorter period including the quantity that they would look at mining during the limited period. If the new mining scheme is not approved by the Bureau, the companies has to operate by the mining scheme approved by the Bureau for the previous period, said a lawyer.

The primary mission of Indian Bureau of Mines is to promote systematic and scientific development of mineral resources of the country (both onshore and offshore), through regulatory inspections of the mines, approval of mining plans and environment management plans to ensure minimal adverse impact on environment. The multi-disciplinary government organisation, under the Department of Mines, Ministry of Mines, is engaged in promotion of conservation, scientific development of mineral resources and protection of environment in mines other than coal, petroleum & natural gas, atomic minerals and minor minerals.

According to a report in Indiaspend, a non-profit data journalism initiative, quoting a study published in the Indian Academy of Science's journal, around 45% of India's 8,414 kilometer of coastline is facing erosion. According to the report, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands face the most erosion, close to 89% of the coastline, on the other hand, Tamil Nadu has seen 62% of its coast gaining land. The erosion is happening due to various natural reasons and human activities, it says.