Taking up a batch of petitions challenging the state government’s decision to grant all the non-mines through auction, the Odisha High Court on Wednesday upheld the interim stay in had imposed in mid-January. A division of bench of justices, Indrajit Mohanty and Biswanath Mohapatra postponed the hearing to 11 Mar, 2015. However, the government did not file any affidavit in this connection. Instead it sought some more time to respond.
On 5 Jan’15; the same day the union cabinet approved Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Amendment Ordinance, the Odisha government had come up with a resolution to auction all the non-coal mines except the leases hold by state and Central government PSUs and the captive mines. However, several miners including Odisha Manganese and Minerals, Naveram and Co, Mideast Integrated Steel, Ariyan Mining and Trading Corporation had moved to the Odisha High Court challenging the decision.
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