Supreme Court lifts Goa mining ban; Annual mining capped at 20m tonnes till submission of Expert Committee’s report

The Supreme Court today directed the State government of Goa to limit iron ore mining in the State to 20 million tonnes annually until a final report in this regard is submitted by an Expert Committee..The judgment was delivered by the “Green Bench” presided by Justice AK Patnaik and comprising Justices SS Nijjar and FMI Kalifulla in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Goa Foundation (Petitioner)..Senior Advocates KK Venugopal and Mukul Rohatgi represented the mining companies. Senior Advocate Arvind Datar appeared for State of Goa while the Central government was represented by Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran. Advocate Prashant Bhushan represented the Petitioner while Senior Advocate Harish Salve served as the amicus curiae..The PIL was filed on the basis of the Justice Shah Commission report on illegal mining in Goa; the relief sought was the termination of mining leases, and the prosecution of those flouting mining laws in Goa. By way of an interim order in October 2012, the Court had upheld the ban imposed by the State government on all mining operations with respect to mining leases identified in the Justice Shah Commission Report..After hearing the case for nearly two years, the Court vacated the interim order of October 2012 imposing a blanket ban on mining. It held that,.“until the final report is submitted by the Expert Committee, the State Government will, in the interests of sustainable development and intergenerational equity, permit a maximum annual excavation of 20 million MT from the mining leases in the State of Goa other than from dumps.”.The Court also held that the impugned mining leases had expired in 2007 and all mining activities subsequent to that were illegal. However, it left it open to the State government to decide the manner in which mining leases are to be granted in future while reserving the right to examine the Constitutionality and legality of the same. Further, the Expert Committee has been directed to submit its report within twelve months on the final cap to be put on the annual excavation of iron ore in Goa..Read the full judgment below.