Extracted below are points 70 and 71 containing Declarations
and Directions of the Supreme Court Judgment on Goa mining in Goa Foundation v. Union of India
delivered on 21st April 2014. These are key basis for the future of
mining in Goa.
71. In the result, we declare that:
(i) the deemed mining leases o the lessees
in Goa expired on 22.11.1987 and the maximum of 20 years renewal period of the
deemed mining leases in Goa expired on 22.11.2007 and consequently mining by
the lessees after 22.11.2007 was illegal and hence the impunged order dated
10.09.2012 of Government of Goa and the impunged order dated 14.09.2012 of the
MoEF, Government of India are not liable to be quashed;
(ii) dumping of minerals outside the leased
area of the mining lessees is not permissible under the MMDR Act and the Rules
made thereunder;
(iii) until the order dated 04.08.2006 of
this Court is modified by this Court in I.A. No.1000 in T.N.Godavarman Thirululpad v. Union of India & Ors., there can
be no mining activities within one kilometer from the boundaries of National
Parks and Sanctuaries in Goa;
(iv) by the order dated 04.12.2006 in Writ
Petition (C) No.460 of 2004 (Goa Foundation v. Union o India), this Court has
not prohibited mining activities within 10 kilometers distance from the
boundaries of the National Parks or Wildlife Sanctuaries;
(v) it is for the State Government to
decide as a matter of policy in what manner mining leases are to be granted in
future but the constitutionality re legality of the decision of the State
Government can be examined by the Court in exercise of its power of judicial
review.
And
we direct that:
(i) MoEF will issue the notification of
eco-sensitive zones around the National Park and Wildlife Sanctuaries in Goa
after following the procedure discussed in this judgment within a period of six
months from today;
(ii) the State Government will initiate
action against those mining lessees who violate Rules 37 and 38 of the MC
Rules;
(iii) the State Government will strictly
enforce the Goa (Prevention of Illegal Mining, Storage and Tranportation of
Minerals) Rules, 2013;
(iv) the State Government may grant mining
leases of iron ores in Goa in accordance with its policy decision and in
accordance with MMDR Act and the rules
made thereunder in consonance with the constitutional provisions;
(v) 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 dump;
(vi) the Goa Pollution Control Board will
strictly monitor the air and water pollution in the mining areas and exercise
powers available to it under the 1974 Act and 1981 Act including the powers
under Section 33A of the 1974 Act and Section 31A of the 1981 Act and furnish
all relevant data to the Expert Committee;
(vii) the entire sale value of the
e-auction of the inventorised ores will be forthwith realized and out of the
total sale value, the Director of Mines and Geology, Government of Goa, under
the supervision of the Monitoring Committee will make the following payments:
(a)
Average cost of excavation of iron ores to the mining
lessees;
(b)
50% of the wages and dearness allowances to the
workers in the muster rolls of the mining leases who have not been paid their wages
during the period of suspension of mining operations;
(c)
50% of the claim towards storage charges of MPT.
Out of the balance, 10% will be
appropriated towards the Goan Iron Ore Permanent Fund and the remaining amount
will be appropriated by the State Government as the owner of the ores;
(viii) the Monitoring Committee
will submit its final report on the utilization and appropriation of the sale
proceeds of the inventorised ores in the manner directed in this judgment
within six months from today;
(ix) henceforth, the mining lessees
of iron ore will have to pay 10% of the sale price of the iron ore sold by them
to the Goan Iron Ore Permanent Fund.
(x) the State Government will
within six months from today frame a comprehensive scheme with regard to the
Goan Iron Ore Permanent Fund in consultation with CEC for sustainable
development and intergenerational equity and submit the same to this Court
within six months from today; and
(xi) the Expert Committee will
submit its report within six months from today on how the mining dumps in the
State of Goa should be dealt with and will submit its final report within
twelve months from today on the cap to be put on the annual excavation of iron
ore in Goa.
70. With the aforesaid declarations and directions, Writ
Petition (C) No. 435 of 2012 is allowed. The Transferred Cases and IA filed by
MPT as well as other IAs also stand disposed of. The interim order dated
05.10.2012 of this Court is vacated. These matters will be listed as and when
the Monitoring Committee and the Expert Committee submit their final reports
and the State Government submits the scheme for the Goan Iron Ore Permanent Fund.
The Parties shall bear their own costs.
A.K.Patnaik J.
Surinder Singh Nijjar J.
Fakkir Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifulla J
New Delhi
April 21, 2014
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