Goa govt to issue notices to errant mine owners

The Goa government has now decided to initiate a process of recovering money from the mine owners, who were found to have extracted the iron ore outside their valid mining leases.

State Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar told reporters here last evening that within the next one month, the state government will issue notices to the mine owners, asking them why action should not be initiated against them for being found mining illegally, as per the Shah Commission report.

"We have to always follow a due process of law. We will have to first establish that they (mine owners) have looted," Parrikar said, responding to allegations against him for keeping mum on the issue of recovery.

There is nothing evident in the entire Commission’s report that as a matter of natural justice, notices were issued to the concerned mine owners to hear them, he said.

"Shah Commission is a commission of inquiry. There is no evidence in the full matter that Shah Commission, as natural justice, has issued notice to concern mine owners," the Chief Minister said.

"I have to issue notice to them first. This is exactly what we have started doing. We will ask them why action should not be initiated against them," Parrikar said.

Justice M B Shah Commission , in its report tabled in the Parliament, had pointed out around 100 encroachments outside the mining lease areas by the companies which extracted large sums of ore between 2006 to 2010.

The report quantified the total extraction of ore from these encroachments to Rs 35,000 crore.

The judicial panel has recommended that the money should be recovered by the state from the mine owners. PTI RPS GK PTP 09141431 NNNN