Apex court reserves order on Odisha mining licences

After hearing mining companies and examining the report of an empowered committee appointed by it to examine violations by the companies, the Supreme Court on Monday reserved its judgment on the Odisha mining licences case.

The state government has submitted a scheme for the welfare of tribals in the state, and this was approved by a bench headed by A K Patnaik. About Rs 1,750 crore have been recovered from the erring firms and this amount will go towards a special purpose vehicle set up for the welfare of tribal, as well as afforestation in areas hit by illegal mining.

To the argument of mining companies that they worked in the national interest, the bench said illegal mining was, in no way, in the interests of the nation. The judges said they weren't passing a general order banning the sector; they were only stopping illegalities.

After reading the empowered committee's report, the court said several lessees were operating without clearances required under the environment and forest Acts. At the request of the court, the committee on Monday provided a list of violators, many functioning even after the expiry of their licences.

The Odisha government has suspended the licences of 163 mines. It said while 157 leases had lapsed, about 320 mines had been shut. Of these, 187 related to iron/manganese. The government said 102 miners had no clearances under various laws, adding their licences had been suspended.

Some miners claimed they were operating mines for decades and should be allowed to continue. Prashant Bhushan, representing non-profit entity Common Cause, objected to this, saying once a licence was granted, it wasn't in perpetuity.

The chief secretary of Odisha had told the committee for a set of mining companies, production exceeded permissible limits. Yet another group, of 40 companies, was operating under "deemed renewals". In some cases, 'in principle' decisions to grant renewals had been taken; the licences would be granted only after compliance with the rules, the government assured the committee and the court.