PANJIM: With Senior Counsel Harish Salve opining that there is thin scope for review petition in the Supreme Court vis-à-vis mining lease renewal, the Cabinet Advisory Committee (CAC) is looking at the Ordinance route to resume mining in the State.
Giving his opinion on the draft review petition, Salve said that the petition won’t stand in the court of law.
“Under such situation, there is nothing left before the State than to ask the Centre for an Ordinance. Harish Salve has said that there is no scope for review petition. What other option is left before us? The Cabinet headed by Chief Minister has to decide on it. Do all procedures and convince the Centre,” CAC member and TCP Minister Vijay Sardessai told Herald.
“If you go and see in the mining belt, people there have lost all hopes of revival. As a government, it is our duty to protect these people. Justice delayed is equal to justice denied and we are already more than two and half month late. We need to act immediately now,” Sardessai said.
When contacted, CAC member and Minister Francis D’Souza said that the committee is ready to recommend to the Chief Minister to urge Centre for necessary ordinance, provided Chief Secretary places the agenda before us.
“CAC mandate is limited. We cannot take suo-moto cognizance. Chief Secretary will have to place the agenda before us,” D’Sousa said.
The Urban Development Minister further said that “Chief Minister, who is also a Mines Minister, can himself move a note to the Centre with the demand…there is no specific need of Cabinet approval”.
Sources in the state administration said that the mining concessions that had been granted during Portuguese era are deemed to have been abolished, and shall, with effect from an ‘appointed day’, be deemed to be mining leases granted under the Mines and Minerals Act, 1957, adding that if the date is changed then it will mean that Goa’s Portuguese mining concessions became leases under the Indian Act, 1987.
The State had impress upon the Centre on the appointed date as specified in Section 2(a) of the act: the ‘appointed day’ means the 20th day of December 1961, the sources added.
Furthermore it said that while pressing for an ordinance to amend the Act, the Goa government had sought the date be specified as the day the President of India granted assent to the Goa Daman and Diu Concession (Abolition and Declaration As Mining Leases) Act, 1987.
“If the date is changed, the question of having renewed leases in 2007 will not arise, rendering the Supreme Court decision to strike down the renewals as null and void,” the sources said.
