BHUBANESWAR: The Supreme Court has asked the State Government to file an affidavit detailing the activities carried out by the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) which was created to undertake tribal welfare and area development works for inclusive growth of tribal areas by utilising the net present value (NPV) recovered from mining lease-holders by the State Government.
The Chief Secretary was directed to submit the affidavit by September 30 stating the work done and furnish the audited accounts of the receipt and expenditure of the SPV since its inception.
The two-judge bench of the Supreme Court, which delivered a major judgment in the mega mining scam, said the scheme appears to have been implemented with the Chief Secretary as the ex officio chairman of the SPV.
However, there apex court observed that it has no further information about implementation of the scheme. “There are huge amounts available with the SPV for tribal welfare and area development works and we have absolutely no idea about the utilisation of funds or whether they are in fact being used for tribal welfare and area development works,” the apex court said.
The State Government had first registered a society called Society for Inclusive Development of Mineral Bearing Areas of Odisha to act as the SPV but later replaced it with Odisha Mineral Bearing Areas Development Corporation (OMBADC) under the Companies Act.
By virtue of Wednesday’s order, the Supreme Court said very large amounts will again be made available to the State which should also be kept with the SPV.
During the hearing of the case, some of the mining lease holders represented by senior advocate Gopal Subramanium had deposited `237.05 crore for utilisation by the SPV for carrying out welfare works and activities in Keonjhar, Sundargarh and Mayurbhanj districts.