The Supreme Court on Monday refused to stop mining activities in Odisha as sought by NGO Common Cause.
A special forest bench headed by justice AK Patnaik posted the matter for further hearing on March 24 after industry bodies, including Assocham, objected to passing of any interim order in this regard. Referring to the Justice Shah Commission’s report on alleged large-scale illegal mining in the state, counsel Prashant Bhushan argued that illegal mining activities should be stopped immediately.
The petition also sought a a court-monitored probe by a special investigation team or the CBI into illegal mining in the state. Common Cause stated that even previous reports of the Comptroller Auditor General of India, Central Empowered Committee of ministry of mines, and reports of Delhi-based NGO, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), have shown that mining of various minerals, especially iron ore, continued without checks.