Wednesday, December 15,
The Supreme Court yesterday issued notice to Karnataka over a petition filed by S B Minerals challenging the state Government’s order that banned transportation of iron ore outside the state.
Earlier on November 26, the apex court over the petition of MSPL had directed the state government to file reply within three weeks.
However, it had declined to grant any immediate relief to MSPL Ltd, which submitted that 6,42,706 tonnes of iron was lying unutilized in its premises due to the Government’s refusal to issue a mineral dispatch permit.
The Karnataka High Court, on November 19, upheld the state Government’s July 28 order imposing a blanket ban on the issuance of mineral dispatch permits for transportation of iron ore for overseas export.
MSPL had also added that the state government, which has banned iron ore exports, citing provisions of the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation (MMDR) Act, has no power to do so.
“The MMDR Act does not vest any power in the state government to impose a complete prohibition or ban on the mining, transportation or storage of minerals. The only power of the state government, even under the MMDR Act, is at best to frame rules to create a machinery to detect and prevent illegal mining, transportation and storage of minerals in individual cases,” the petition said.
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