Saturday, November 27,
The Supreme Court on Friday sought the Karnataka government’s response to the Karnataka High Court’s judgment upholding the ban on transport and export of iron ore from the State.
A Bench of Justices R.V. Raveendran and A.K. Patnaik issued notice to the State and other respondents on a special leave petition filed by MSPL Ltd. against the November 19 judgment.
Even as counsel for appellant E.R. Kumar submitted that the company was legally operating mines and sought some relief, the Bench said it would issue notice and hear the matter after the response was filed.
The company said 6,42,706 tonnes of iron ore was lying unutilized on its premises because of the government’s refusal to issue a mineral dispatch permit. “It is a reputed company engaged in the mining and export of iron ore and is registered as an export-oriented unit,” counsel said.
The SLP contended that the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation (MMDR) Act “does not vest any power with the State government to impose a complete prohibition or ban on the mining, transport or storage of minerals.
The only power of the State government, even under the Act, is at best to frame rules to create a machinery to detect and prevent illegal mining, transport and storage of minerals in individual cases.”
It would be anomalous to interpret the power to frame rules to prevent illegal mining as conferring power on the State government to nullify Parliament’s objective of ensuring integrated development of the nation’s mineral resources by imposing a blanket ban on iron ore exports.
In exercise of its rule-making power, the State could not issue an export ban order, the petition said, praying for quashing the judgment and an interim stay of its operation until the SLP was disposed of.
Source: The Hindu
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