TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday continued hearings in the Goa mining matter, the with the State advocate general reiterating the plea for allowing the export of ore already mined and stacked at jetties.
On the 12th day of the hearing in the writ petition filed by Goa Foundation, the Goa Foundation Lawyer also petitioned that the Supreme Court to appoint a committee to monitor the extraction of ore from the dumps as was done in the case of Karnataka.
Beginning arguments for the day, Advocate General Atmaram Nadkarni admitted that allowing mining to continue under the deemed extension clause was not a proper thing to do and that at the most it could have been used as a temporary measure pending a government decision.
“Inaction of the government and allowing all mining to continue on a large scale was not proper,” he said even as he said that henceforth Goa government would not allow mining based on the deemed extension clause.
The Apex Court however said that it would hear all parties in the matter, before taking any decision, even that with regard to the export of ore stacked at jetties as was petitioned both by the Government as well as the counsel for Sesa Goa Ltd.
Stakeholders are hoping that the Supreme Court completes hearing all the parties in the matter by Thursday after which it would break for Diwali. With many reports commissioned by the State as well as Central governments yet to be submitted before the court, the wait for mining to restart is likely to be much longer.
