Vedanta group firm Sesa Sterlite on Monday moved the Supreme Court seeking an open court hearing of its plea for review of the apex court order that imposed 30 million tonne cap on iron ore mining in Karnataka.
The company has challenged the provisions of Supreme Court rules according to which review petitions are considered by judges in their chambers without hearing any of the parties.
The apex court bench, headed by Chief Justice HL Dattu, said it would consider Sesa Sterlite’s plea for an open court hearing of the company’s review plea, along with similar petitions filed earlier by other miners, including VS Lad and Sons, in Karnataka.
The company has been operating at a much reduced capacity of 2.29 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) as state’s total iron ore production has been capped at 30 MTPA by the apex court. Sesa Sterlite was the largest ore producing mine in the state with a 6 MTPA capacity before the ban was imposed by the apex court during July-August, 2011. The apex court had banned all mining activities in Karnataka’s Bellary and Hospet regions in July 2011, following reports of widespread illegal mining.
The court had in February 2014 rejected Sesa Sterlite’s plea for removal of the annual cap on iron ore mining from Bellary, Tumkur and Chitradurg districts in Karnataka. Sesa Sterlite had later sought review of the court’s decision.
In April 2013, the apex court had allowed 63 Category-B iron ore mines in Karnataka to resume mining subject to reclamation, rehabilitation and compensation payments. The court cancelled all 49 leases in Category-C, while reiterating clearance for 18 Category-A mines.
While conditionally allowing iron ore mining in Karnataka, the apex court’s on Apr 18, 2013 had imposed the 30 million tonne cap after accepting the Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee’s recommendation for a ceiling of 25 million tonne total production of iron ore from all the mining leases in Bellary and 5 mn tn from mining leases in Chitradurga and Tumkur together. In view of the shortage of iron ore faced by the steel mills in the state, even the Karnataka government had requested the Central government to take up its proposal for increasing the cap on production of iron ore from the present 30 million metric tons per annum to 40 million metric tons per annum in the Supreme Court.
Sesa Sterlite had moved the apex court, saying the cap imposed by the judgement was not needed since the necessary mechanism for ceilings was already in place and were considered while granting of various approvals like mining plan nod and environmental clearance.