Goemkaponn Desk
PANAJI: The Supreme Court of India has further deferred Goa Mining case to last week of February.
The matter expected to come up on February 23 or 24.
A special leave petition was filed by mining companies for resumption of mining in Goa 15 months ago.
The State Government had in November 2019 moved Apex Court seeking that the court should revisit its order dated February 2018, wherein it had declared all 88 mining leases as null and void.
The Government had contended before the court that under the amendment to Section 8 of the Mines and Minerals Development Regulation (MMDR) Act, the mining companies are entitled to extend their mining leases upto 2037.
In August, this year, 26 panchayats moved Supreme Court to be party in the case. The mining companies in July approached the Court seeking further six months time to transport the royalty paid ore citing pandemic-related delays.
Stating that all the 88 iron ore mining leases, whose renewals were struck down by the Court should have been reverted back to government by July 31, 2020, GF, in an application, earlier last week, pleaded for necessary directions to State to take “effective possession” of all the lease areas as well as the dumps outside the leases.