BENGALURU: Samaja Parivarthana Samudaya (SPS), pontiff of Thontadarya Mutt, Gadag, and an ex-wildlife warden filed an impleading application in a petition filed by Ramdurg Mineral and Mining Limited, Hospet, before the High Court.
Ramdurg Mineral and Mining Limited had challenged a notification dated April 11, 2017 declaring Kappattagudda as a conservation reserve, on the ground that the said notification conflicts with the areas covered by their application seeking for prospecting licence and mining lease.
The company contended that it has successfully carried out the reconnaissance and prospecting operations for gold and is setting up a processing plant incurring huge expenditure. In the meanwhile, the government issued notification without protecting the mining rights, the company contended.
In the impleading application, Samaja Parivarthana Samudaya and others supported the notification issued by the government declaring 17,872 hectares in three taluks of Gadag district to be part of the conservation reserve.
The division bench of Chief Justice Subhro Kamal Mukherjee and Justice P S Dinesh Kumar on Thursday allowed the impleading application and adjourned the hearing.