The Supreme Court has dismissed petitions filed by Vedanta and the government of Goa to review the order that cancelled the renewal of 88 iron ore leases. The order authored by Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud pointed out that “in accordance with Rule 2 of Order XLVII of the Supreme Court Rules, 2013, an application for review of a judgement has to be filed within 30 days of the date of the judgement or order that is sought to be reviewed. No cogent grounds have been furnished for the delay between 20 and 26 months by the two parties (Vedanta and the state of Goa) in filing their applications for review.”
The order they wanted reviewed was delivered in the Goa Foundation II case by Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta. This 7 February 2018 order found the state guilty of renewing, illegally, 88 iron ore leases. The consequent change to mining laws mandating auction thwarted Goa’s efforts to revive existing mines in the state.
The order pointed out that Goa preferred to file four review petitions in November 2019, after Justice Madan B Lokur’s retirement on 30 December 2018, while Vedanta filed theirs in August 2020, after Justice Deepak Gupta’s retirement on 6 May 2020. “Such practise must be firmly disapproved to preserve the institutional sanctity of the decision making of this Court,” said the bench of CJI and Justice MR Shah not mincing words.
Leave a Reply