By Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI/BHUBANESWAR: A Bench led by Chief Justice NV Ramana while seeking response from the Odisha government have asked it to maintain status quo with regard to mining auction and not to take any coercive action against Sarda Mines Pvt Ltd till the next date of hearing. The mining lease is sought in respect of over 947.046 hectare Thakurani B-Block Iron Ore Mines in Keonjhar district, Odisha, sources said on Thursday.
The CJI also slammed the Odisha government for its inaction, asking “it to be fair” as it took away 2,000 acre of land from the company. The state government had on January 13 asked SMPL to handover possession of the mines, including stock of minerals, plant and machineries, building structures, etc, to the mining officer.
SMPL, which was a supplier of high-quality ore to the Naveen Jindal-led JSPL plant had acquired a mining lease for over 947.046 hectare for 20 years from August 2001 to 2021 for Thakurani iron ore mine in Keonjhar in Odisha, but the environment clearance was granted only in 2004. However, the mining operations were stopped for want of the environmental clearance beyond March 2014. Later in January 2020, SMPL had paid Rs 933.60 crore for excess production of iron ore and had finally resumed its mining operations.
SMPL had moved the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Odisha government to execute mining lease deed in its favour for the remaining 10 years out of the 30 years renewal that it was entitled to in terms of the Orissa High Court’s earlier orders of 1991 and 1998 and the state mining authorities’ February 1999.
SMPL, argued that there was a settlement which had received the HC’s nod in July 1998 under which its predecessor had surrender one bigger block (measuring 2,590.4 acres of Thakurani Iron Ore Mines, Keonjhar) of the two mining leases and was granted the other block for 30 years. Even the orders of the court clearly establish that Sarda had received a crystallised and firm grant of mining lease for 30 years from the date of execution of the lease deed in December 1991, it stated.
