NEW DELHI/BHUBANESWAR: Giving yet another jolt to mining leaseholders of Odisha, the Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed their petitions for extension of deadline for payment of compensation of `17,576 crore towards excess minerals extracted without environmental clearance.
Imposing 100 per cent penalty on mineral extracted in excess of the approved mining plan and violation of statutory clearance, a division bench of the the apex court, in its August 2 judgment, had ordered that amounts determined as due from all the mining lease holders should be deposited by them on or before December 31, 2017. Mines of the lessees who fail to pay the compensation amount will cease to function, the order said.
Even as the Supreme Court had rejected a similar plea of defaulting miners on November 22, a majority of the 152 mining companies who have been slapped with 100 per cent penalty had approached the court again requesting for time extension and allowing them to clear the compensation dues in instalments.
Mining companies, which are in the dock, include Tata Steel, Essel Mining & Industries Ltd, Indrani Patnaik, Rungta Mines, Serajuddin & Company and State- run entities like Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC).
Prior to dismissing the applications of the petitioners, the Supreme Court had directed the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) to give an opportunity to 102 mining companies to air their grievances on matters relating to the penalty on three counts. The miners had sought relief on the grounds that they have already paid royalty and taxes, and also borne logistics cost.
They had pleaded that the amount should be deducted from the compensation slapped on them. Besides, these companies had also urged that the cost of minerals extracted but not sold be excluded from the penalty. Pointing out anomalies in the calculation of ore production, the petitioners had requested the court to give them an opportunity for reconciliation with the production figures of the State Government.
While accepting the demands of the miners, the apex court had directed the CEC on November 22 to reconcile the production figures of mining companies with the Government figure and report the matter to it. The CEC submitted its report to the court on December 5.
Jolt to mining lease holders
