SC notice to govt on PIL in mining lease case

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the central government to formally place its stand in the court on a petition seeking to quash some 358 mining leases, which have allegedly been extended or renewed bypassing the auction route in mineral-rich Odisha and Karnataka.

After the controversy over coalblock allotments, and a top court ruling setting aside hundreds of coalblock allocations made on a first-come-first-served basis, changes had been made in the Mines and Minerals Act to make auction mandatory for such allocations.

A petition filed by lawyer Manoharlal Sharma claimed that at least 358 mines had since been allocated virtually free of cost, without any evaluation or auction. This is illegal, arbitrary and unconstitutional, it said, urging the court to direct the CBI to file an FIR and probe these allocations.


Not only should the allottees be prosecuted, but the market value of the mined mineral also be recovered from them, the PIL demanded.

The central government has four weeks to respond to the notice, issued by a bench led by justice SA Bobde.

Sharma’s petition argued that these allocations had been made through the old route of first-come-first served, ignoring the shift in the law which now mandates auction and had caused a loss of Rs 4 lakh crore to the exchequer.