MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Monday sought a counter affidavit from the state government on two petitions which challenged the three-month ban imposed by the government for transport of minor minerals from TN to other states.
One of the petitioners, P Libin Ponnuswamy Leela of Kanniyakumari, operates vehicles for transporting construction materials including m-sand, bricks, etc to Kerala.
He stated that the state, by invoking Section 23-C of Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulations) Act (MMDR Act), 1957, has passed a GO on July 9, inserting Rule 3-A into the Tamil Nadu Prevention of Illegal Mining, Transportation and Storage of Minerals and Mineral Dealers Rules, 2011, conferring power to the director of geology and mining to regulate the transport of minerals across the state border and impose temporary ban on such transportation.
In view of the said rule, the state imposed the above blanket ban on July 27, prohibiting transportation of minor minerals including rough stones across TN borders for three months, he added.
However, both Rule 3-A and the consequential ban order are illegal as the MMDR Act enables the government to only frame rules with regard to illegal mining and the same cannot be used to prohibit transport of legally excavated minerals outside the state, he alleged.
Also, interstate trade and commerce can be regulated only after prior sanction from the President of India as per Article 304(b) of the Indian Constitution, he claimed.
A similar plea was mentioned before the court on Monday morning by a person operating a crusher unit in TN. Hearing the counsels representing the two petitioners, a bench of justices CV Karthikeyan and R Sakthivel directed the state government to file a counter on both petitions by the next hearing on August 10.