VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh High Court on Thursday questioned the State government as to why the mining lease of Trishul Cements belonging to former minister JC Diwakar Reddy was not cancelled when the rules of the agreement were violated.
Directing the government to file a detailed affidavit, the bench, comprising Chief Justice JK Maheswari and Justice Nainala Jayasurya, adjourned the case hearing to February 10. The final directions would be issued on that day, it added.
Stating that it was the last opportunity, the bench asked the government to give an explanation as to why the mining lease was not cancelled even 60 days after issuing the notice.
In 2011, one V Muraliprasad Reddy of Tadipatri in Anantapur filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the High Court stating that JC Diwakar Reddy had resorted to irregularities in obtaining mining lease of limestone quarries in Konuuppalapadu village of Yadki mandal, Anantapur.
During the course of hearing, PS Rajasekhar, counsel for the petitioner, said the company management in an agreement with the government agreed to set up the cement factor in three years’ time while obtaining the lease for 1,605 acres. He said the company has the drivers and domestic help in the house of Diwakar Reddy as directors of the company. Though the agreed period to set up the factory ended in 2010, the factory is yet to materialise even today. Instead, Trishul Cements mined limestone and sold the same to other companies, he explained.
Taking the argument into consideration, the bench asked the government as to how it entered into an agreement with the company without checking its antecedents. It stressed that the mining lease had to be cancelled and said the final verdict would be given on February 10.