Acting on the two reports of the apex court-appointed Central Empowered Committee, the special forest bench stayed any further mining operations in the 19 mines mentioned in it.
The Supreme Court today restrained 19 mining lease holders in Bellary-Hospet region of Karnataka from carrying out any mining activities, including transportation of extracted iron ores, till its further orders.
Acting on the two reports of the apex court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC), which has found large scale of illegal mining in Bellary forest area, the special forest bench stayed any further mining operations in the 19 mines mentioned in it.
"We make it clear that there would be no mining or transportation of mined materials (in 19 mines) till further order," the bench headed by Chief Justice SH Kapadia said while passing an interim order.
The bench said it would also consider about the rest 68 mining lease holders, mentioned in the third and fourth list of the CEC report for violating environmental norms in mining operations, in its next hearing.
The apex court said as around 30 of them have got some interim orders from the Karnataka high court, so it would decide about them after the CEC files transfer petition against those firms in Delhi.
"There cannot be two parallel orders, one allowing to mine and the other to stop. We would have to call all of them and asked to vacate," said the bench which also consisted of Justice Aftab Alam and Justice KS Radhakrishnan, while declining the request of amicus curaie to restrain the 68 firms also.
The apex cout also assured some of the mining firms and their Federation of Mining Industries, which were present today, that it would hear all of them.
However, it rejected their plea that the apex court could not pass any order to suspend the mining lease as no interim application has been filed by the CEC.
On this, the bench said "we are going to convert this CEC report into interim application".
Some of the firms among the 19 mining lease holders are SB Minerals, Muneer Enterprises, Trident Minerals, Veeyam, Adarsha Enterprises, Sparkline Mining, VSL mining Co, Kathikeshwar Mining & Iron Ore and Mithra Mineral Enterprises.
During the proceedings, the apex court asked advocate general of Karnataka Ashok Haranahalli why the state government failed to stop rampant illegal mining that after the report of lok ayukta indicated about it.
The apex court also said the state government has said that CEC recommendations were acceptable to it.
"If you are aggrieved, then why do not you suspended the mining? Just identify the illegal mining and take action. Why are you not acting on it"? the bench said.
Replying to it, he told the bench that iron ore was a major mineral and comes under the Centre's subject and Karnataka government cannot stop it.
"If you (Karnataka) do not stay, then we would stop it and pass ad interim order," the bench said.
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