HC suspends stay order on mining

The division bench of the Karnataka High Court circuit bench has suspended the stay order granted by the court on granting lease for mining in forest area.

The division bench comprising chief justice P D Dinakaran and justice N K Patil passed orders on February 9 suspending the stay granted on September 8, 2008, by a division bench comprising of justices Manjula Chellur and Keshav Narayan.

The single judge bench headed by justice Shailendra Kumar on September 8 last had directed the state government to follow proper procedure while granting lease for mining in forest area. He observed that obtaining clearance from the forest department while granting permission for mining was mandatory, and had quashed a notification granting lease on the ground that procedure had not been followed.

The counsel for the state government had submitted to the court that the government was willing to comply with the directions given by the single judge before granting the mining lease in forest area. Some mining operators aggrieved by justice Shailendra Kumar’s order had appealed to the division bench against the order stating that they already had the lease in their favour which could not be quashed.

The division bench comprising justices Manjula Chellur and Keshav Narayan had passed an interim order granting a stay on single judge’s order. Further, after hearing both sides chief justice P D Dinakaran and justice N K Patil on February 9 suspended the ex-parte interim stay.

They have said the appellants have obtained the lease without following procedure mandated. The lease was granted to the appellants without obtaining the clearance from the forest department which according to the single judge is mandatory.