The Orissa-based IMFA-ICCL has challenged in the Orissa high court the state government's decision to grant a mining lease of 84.881 hectares to Nava Bharat out of the disputed 855.476 hectares that were carved out of the area leased out to Tata Iron & Steel Co two years ago. IMFA-ICCL has submitted that the lease recommendation made by the state steel & mines department is void ab initio and goes against a Supreme Court judgment.

According to the Orissa company, the recommended area is not available for grant of lease and, as such, is arbitrary. Referring to an earlier Supreme Court judgment, the company urged the high court to quash the recommendation of the state government to the Centre for grant of lease to Nava Bharat.Last week, the Orissa high court restrained both the state government and theCentre from taking any decision on grant of mining lease to the Hyderabad-based company. A division bench directed the disputing parties to file their counters while adjourning the hearing to March 1.

Earlier the state government, in compliance with the Supreme Court verdict, had retrieved about 855 hectares of chrome mine area from Tisco which had had a lease of over 1261 hectares since 1971. But the government earmarked only 190 hectares with a chromite reserve of 20 million tonnes for IMFA-ICCL, 100 hectares (10 million tonnes reserve) for Ispat Alloys Ltd of the Mittals, 80 hectares (9 million tonnes reserve) for Jindal Industries Ltd and 39 hectares (4 million tonnes reserve) for Ferro Alloys Corporation Ltd (Facor). The state government kept 30 per cent of the 855 hectares with itself so that it could lease them out to Nava Bharat and other new units that may come up in the state.