Ambika Bhardwaj
Published On: January 08, 2022 at 12:52 IST
The new mining rules (Uttarakhand Minor-Minerals (Concession) (Amendment) Rules, 2021) alerted by the State Government on October 28, 2021 have been decided to stay by the Uttarakhand High Court.
The Court also served notifications on the State Government, the director of geology and mining (under the industries department), the district mining official of Nainital, and the sub-divisional magistrate of Nainital. Respondents have now been given four weeks to respond to the notifications.
These instructions were issued by a division Bench of acting Chief Justice S K Mishra and Justice Alok Kumar Verma on Thursday while listening a plea lodged by Nainital-based Satyendra Kumar Tomar in December last year.
“The notice is an effort to indulgently transform State mining strategy of competitive bidding into a mutually consensual cum recommendation,” the Petitioner stated.
As per the Plea, the notice Violated Articles 14, 19(1)(g), and 21 of the Indian Constitution because it allots mining leases through an advisory process instead of competitive bidding, in total disrespect of the State Mining Policy of 2017.
“Despite the Government’s issuance of another office on November 10, 2021, which offers for a real competitive e-tender/e-bidding on even affected abadi (residential) and agricultural land, mining preferences are still being given out arbitrarily to special interests on privately owned land,” the Petition stated.