SC bars Reddy brothers' company from mining in Bellary

The Supreme Court today stayed all further mining activities of Obulapuram Mining Corporation in Andhra Pradesh, belonging to Karnataka minister G Janardhana Reddy and his brother.

Earlier, the court had ordered status quo on an Andhra Pradesh High Court judgment that had allowed mining activities. Today, a bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan clamped a total stay till further orders, in a setback to the Karnataka minister who is also a mining magnate. The court also appointed an expert committee headed by the Survey of India to review the mining areas and ascertain allegations of large-scale encroachment of reserve forest for mining. It granted the committee two weeks to file its report.

The Reddy brothers’ mining activities in the Bellary reserve forest on the border of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka had become intensely controversial in recent times with the Andhra government banning it and the high court lifting the prohibition.

Attorney General G E Vahanvati submitted that mining activities were continuing despite the Supreme Court’s earlier status quo order and the government ban.

By a November 25, 2009 order, the industries and commerce department of the state government restrained the Obulapuram Mining Company, Bellary Iron Ore Pvt Ltd, Mahabaleswarappa and Sons and the Anantapur Mining Corporation from carrying out any mining activity involving extraction of iron ore in the district. The high court on February 26 struck down the government order. Therefore, the state government moved the Supreme Court citing a report of the Central Empowered Committee which reported environmental depredations by the mining companies.