PANJIM: The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday dismissed special leave petitions filed by the former mining lease holders seeking to stay the judgment delivered by the High Court of Bombay in upholding the Goa government’s order directing them to vacate their leases within one month.
As the order could not be stayed, it came into effect on June 6, 2022.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli declined to entertain the special leave petitions under Article 136 of the Constitution and accordingly dismissed them.
Earlier a division bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Justice Sandeep K Shinde and Justice R N Laddha by an order pronounced on October 7, 2022, had dismissed a batch of several writ petitions filed by former mining lease holders challenging the Goa government’s order directing them to remove all the machinery and equipment from the leasehold areas and to vacate them within one month.
The State government’s order dated May 4, 2022, was issued pursuant to a specific direction of the Supreme Court that the Goa government use its powers (granted under Rule 12(1) (hh) of the Mineral Concession Rules, 2016) for the purpose of recovering the leased areas.
In October last year, the Goa Foundation had filed a writ petition against the Goa government demanding such an order be issued in the context of specific directions of the Supreme Court of India.
