Team Herald
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court judgment on the Goa government’s review petitions of November 2019 and other petitions for resumption of mining lying shut since March 2018 is most likely on Wednesday in the post-lunch session.
There may be a short date for the judgment if the Bench continues to examine the petitions in chambers as done previously on January 21. A Bench of Justices Dr D Y Chandrachud and M R Shah, before which eight review petitions on the matter are listed on Wednesday, had last Thursday deferred a day-to-day hearing to February 24 on resumption of the iron ore mining in Goa in view of the pending review petitions. Justice Chandrachud then said a decision on the review petition would be taken in another three-four days.
The review petitions are against a judgment by another two-judge Bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta on February 7, 2018 on a petition by NGO Goa Foundation, quashing renewal of all 88 mining leases were circulated to the two judges in chambers on January 21 for a decision, but no verdict was pronounced.
The Goa government had prayed for an open court hearing on its review petitions, but it was not agreed because of the practice of examining the review petitions only in the chamber on the basis of the written submissions and the judgment is pronounced without permitting lawyers of the parties to argue.
The mines are lying shut since March 2018 as the Goa government preferred not to go for fresh auctions as ordered by the Court and its repeated attempts to get a relief from the Centre failed, forcing it ultimately to press for the review petition it had filed back in 2019, but did not pursue for early hearing.
