PANJIM: The Supreme Court on Friday adjourned the hearing in the Writ Petition challenging the renewal of 88 iron ore mining leases in Goa, after Justice Uday Lalit recused himself from hearing the matter for being a shareholder in Sesa-Vedanta Resources.
The petition filed by Goa Foundation, will now be heard on October 16, along with the petition filed by activist Sudip Tamankar challenging the renewals.
The Apex Court directed that the writ petition filed by Goa Foundation, Special Leave Petition filed by Tamankar, challenging the order of the Bombay High Court at Goa on renewal of leases, be clubbed together before the next hearing.
“When the matter came up this morning, Justice Lalit recused himself from hearing the case for having appeared for some mining companies in the past and since he holds shares in some of the (Sesa-Vedanta) companies,” petitioner Dr Claude Alvares said in a release.
GF, in a writ petition filed last month, had challenged the lease renewals of 88 iron ore mining leases by the government and had prayed for a CBI inquiry into the grant of leases, which allegedly resulted in a loss of Rs 80,000 crore to State exchequer. GF has also sought an interim stay on the operation of mining leases based on the Consent to Operate granted by the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB).
