SC restrains 19 leaseholders from mining in Karnataka

The Supreme Court on Friday restrained 19 mining lease holders in Bellary-Hospet region of Karnataka from carrying out any mining activities, including transportation of extracted iron ores, till its further orders.

Acting on the two reports of the apex court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC), which has found large scale of illegal mining in Bellary Forest area, the special forest bench stayed any further mining operations in the 19 mines mentioned in it.

"We make it clear that there would be no mining or transportation of mined materials (in 19 mines) till further order," the bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia said while passing an interim order.

The bench said it would also consider about the rest 68 mining lease holders, mentioned in the third and fourth list of the CEC report for violating environmental norms in mining operations, in its next hearing.

The apex court said as around 30 of them have got some interim orders from the Karnataka High Court, so it would decide about them after the CEC files transfer petition against those firms here.

"There cannot be two parallel orders, one allowing to mine and the other to stop. We would have to call all of them and asked to vacate," said the bench which also consisted of justices Aftab Alam and K S Radhakrishnan, while declining the request of amicus curaie to restrain the 68 firms also.