MinesMin defends decision not to extend Shah Commission tenure

Don't want to miss the best from Business Standard?

Mines Ministry has defended the move of not giving further extension to Justice M B Shah Commission which probed illegal mining of iron ore and manganese in various states, saying it was a Cabinet decision and the one-man panel was informed well in advance.

 

The term of the Shah Commission ended on October 16. Since constitution in November, 2010, the Commission was given two extensions of one year and 3 months respectively.

 

On Monday, the Supreme Court is slated to hear petitions on its discontinuation.

 

"The Commission was constituted after a Cabinet decision, first it was supposed to complete (the probe) in one and half years. Then they (the Commission) were given extension. They again sought extension, so we went to Cabinet and told them that it was necessary as they have to submit the report on Odisha," Mines Minister Dinsha Patel told PTI.

 

"So, Cabinet gave three-month extension and made it clear that this is the final extension. This was told to the Shah Commission as well," he said.

 

He further said that the Commission has submitted its reports on all the three states -- Goa, Odisha and Jharkhand-- which it probed.

 

Asked why the panel was not allowed to probe other states, he said: "Only Chhattisgarh was remaining (to be probed) among the major states. In Chhattisgarh, iron ore is primarily produced by the PSUs and presence of the private sector is negligible. Over 90% comes from PSUs there."

 

Moreover, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh do not produce iron ore in a big way," he said, while explaining the rationale of not giving extension to the Commission.

 

He also ruled out any malafide intention on government's part, saying "On the basis of their (the Commission) letter, we had moved to the Cabinet for extension, which decided to give only three-month extension.

 

"Cabinet had appointed them (the Commission), so only it could have taken a decision on whether to give them extension or not or how much extension should be given. Our Ministry can not do anything after a Cabinet decision," Patel said.

 

In their plea before Supreme Court, the petitioners alleged that government has "malafidely" wound up the panel on October 16, after its reports had exposed "illegal mining" and that led to banning of extractions of minerals in Goa.

 

The plea was moved last week by NGO Goa Foundation, S R Hiremath, Founder President of Samaj Parivartana Samudaya and Keshav Shori, Director of the Development Initiative for Sustainable Human Advancement.

 

The extension has been denied to the panel beyond October 16 when it was examining the illegal mining in Chhattisgarh in accordance with its terms of reference, the petitioners said.

 

The Commission was appointed in November 2010 following reports of large scale illegal iron ore mining and failure of states to curb this menace. It was initially supposed to submit the final report within 18 months from the date of first sitting (January 17, 2011).