Karnataka mining: C-category lessees still hope for reprieve

Even as the Karnataka government is readying to send lease termination notices to Category C mine owners following the Supreme Court (SC) order of last month, some of the leaseholders are planning to file a review petition in the apex court.

The aggrieved owners want their cases to be reheard and permission be granted to restart mining on par with Category B miners, after paying penalty. Before the stoppage, as many as 51 mines under Category C contributed about 15 million tonnes of iron ore in a year.

In its order dated April 18, the SC had ordered cancellation of the 51 Category C leases due to large-scale illegalities. The order allowed resumption of mining by all Category A and B miners, subject to fulfillment of some statutory conditions. It had also ordered reallotment of Category C mines through a transparent bidding process, after cancelling the leases.

The SC had accepted the reports of its Central Empowered Committee (CEC) in this regard. The latter had classified the leases into A (legal mines or with minor violations), B (illegal mining to the extent of up to 10 per cent outside the sanctioned lease area) and C (illegal mining of over 10-15 per cent outside lease areas)

"Approaching the SC with a review petition is the only option for us. We have not done illegal mining to the extent defined by the CEC in their report. In fact, the CEC had kept our name separately and recommended to the apex court to consider our case for inclusion in Category B. So, we will approach the Court for reconsidering our case and treat us as a Category B mine. We are ready to pay the penalty," said Raghavendra Godke, general manager, VS Lad & Sons.

The CEC had placed the cases of two leaseholders, VS Lad and Hothur Traders, before the court to decide if these should be upgraded from Category C to B, in view of their relatively minimal violations.

Dinesh Singhi, managing director of BMM, another leaseholder in the category, said: "We will file the review petition during the first week of July, once the SC reopens after vacations. We are going to seek regularisation of our mines as we have been operating since 1951. We are ready to pay any penalty fixed by the court."

Prior to the ban, the company was using its mines captive for its pellet, sponge iron and mini steel plant. It is now in the course of setting up an integrated steel plant at an investment of Rs 6,600 crore, said Singhi.

Many other category-C companies are considering a review petition. "We had asked the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (Fimi) to file one. But, they have not taken any decision on our request," a minning company said, on condition of anonymity.

When asked, R K Sharma, secretary general of Fimi, said: "We are not going to file any review petition on behalf of the miners. It is up to them to decide what they want. We work for the industry as a whole and cannot act as per the wishes of some. It is left to the miners to approach the court."

Meanwhile, the CEC, after three days of wide-ranging discussions with the state government, mining companies and steel mills, directed the state mines and geology department to set up a committee to finalise the modalities for cancellation of leases held by category-C holders. It has asked the committee to finalise modalities within 10 days and start issuing the termination notices.
HIGHLIGHTS

• Category-C mines are classified based on the extent of illegal mining of over 10-15 per cent outside lease areas
• There are 51 mines in this category. The prominent ones are Hothur Traders, Bharat Mines and Minerals, Associated Mining Company, Latha Mining Company, RMML, Trident Minerals, Matha Minerals, S B Minerals and VS Lad & Sons
• These accounted for about 15 million tonnes of iron ore before the ban
• The SC has ordered for cancellation of their leases and reallotment through a transparent bidding process
• The state government has constituted a committee to work out modalities for cancellation of their leases in consultation with the Central Empowered Committee