Bhubaneswar: Accepting yet another PIL on illegal mining, the Odisha High Court has issued notices to the government, Aryan mining & Trading Corporation (AMTC) and Stemcor holdings for allegedly increasing minerals without lawful authority and illegal transfer of the mining lease.
The PIL has been filed by advocate Dilip Kumar Mohapatra on behalf of Keonjhar Navnirman Parishad (KNP) against AMTC. The petitioner has complained that AMTC, the lessee of the Narayanposhi Iron ore mines in Koida, has been involved in excess mining even as its lease period expired on 2nd February, 2005 and its renewal application is pending since then. The petitioner has also complained against AMTC for illegally transferring lease rights to Stemcor thereby violating Rule-37 of MCR.
The state Steel & Mines Department had issued a notice to the company on March, 2012 for Rule-37 violation and transfer of controlling stake of AMTC to London based Stemcor without informing the government. However, no action has been taken against it till date. So, in the absence proper action from the government side the miner has continued its operation till May this year.
A bench comprising of acting Chief Justice, Pradeep Mohanty and Justice, Biswajit Mohanty has issued notices to the Union Mines Ministry, Secretary Steel & Mines, Odisha, AMTC and Stemcor Holdings.
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