HC holds mining orders illegal in respect of two firms

Madras High Court today held that the stoppage of mining orders issued by the state government in August-September 2013 was illegal in respect of two companies, including one owned by trade baron Vaikundarajan.
Justice T Raja, before whom the petitions filed by Transworld Garnet India Private Limited and V V Minerals, a firm represented by its Managing Partner S Vaikundarajan came up, appointed a new inquiry committee headed by retired High Court Judge, Justice Vinod Kumar Sharma, to probe the petitioners' mining activities in a "fair manner."
The judge held that the orders of the government in August-September 2013 could be held valid only in respect of other companies, but not to the petitioner-units.

Regarding the inspection conducted and reports submitted by the earlier committee headed by IAS officer Gagandeep Singh Bedi with regard to other quarries, the judge said:"they are legally valid and as such the same cannot be disturbed."
Only in regard to the petitioner quarries, since the chairman of the committee (Gagandeep Singh) "is biased, the government orders are set aside" and a former judge of the high court appointed to undertake the task and submit the report to the government within three months which will consider it within three months thereafter, the judge said.
Mining of beach sand came to a halt in the southern districts after the orders were issued.

Concurring with submissions of senior counsel for the two companies, Gopal Subramanian, the court said "the petitioners have rightly invoked the rule of 'bias' on the ground that Bedi is biased and prejudiced against them and as such, he could not have been chairperson of the special committee."

Justice Raja came to the conclusion that Gagandeep Singh Bedi, chairperson of the inquiry committee, was likely to be biased against the companies because he heard their business rivals such as Dhayadevadas, but 'arbitrarily refused' to extend the same benefit of personal hearing to companies.
Referring to V V Mineral's complaint to the National Human Rights Commission levelling harassment allegations against Bedi in 1997-98, the judge said,"there is every possibility for the officer to get motivated against the companies."

The matter relates to two writ petitions filed by the two firms to quash the industries department orders asking the companies to stop mining with immediate effect.