Team Herald
PANJIM: Mining companies and traders got major relief on Wednesday when the Supreme Court allowed transportation of iron ore that was stocked at jetties, port and is in barges and for which royalty was paid on or before March 15.
All five applicants, including mining companies and Mormugao Port Trust (MPT), have been directed to go back to High Court of Bombay at Goa for the modified order.
Mining firms Vedanta Ltd, VM Salgaocar and Bro, Fomento Resources Pvt Ltd, Ambar Timblo and MPT had filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) before the Supreme Court pleading that transportation of ore stacked at jetties, port and barges be permitted. The applicants had told the court that several tonnes of ore are in the process of transportation and the High Court order stopping transportation has caused them massive losses.
The division bench comprising Justice Madan Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta on Wednesday granted an interim relief to the applicants by allowing them to undertake transportation of ore that was stacked at jetties, ports and barges before March 15.
“It is categorically stated by learned counsel for the petitioners that the iron ore which is sought to be loaded on the vessels in the port area in Goa is royalty paid and it was removed and brought to the jetties on or before March 15, 2018,” the order stated.
“Under these circumstances, we are of the view that the iron ore which is royalty paid and which is lying on the jetties on or before March 15, should be permitted to be loaded on the barges and on the vessels so that they can be transported to their destinations,” the order added.
The Court has asked the State to ensure and confirm that ore loaded is royalty paid and which is lying in the jetties on or before March 15.
“So far as the other issues are concerned, since the matter is already pending in the High Court, we do not propose to deal with them and leave it to the High Court to adjudicate,” the Court said.
High Court will hear the matter along with the main petition filed by Goa Foundation challenging the transportation activities. The High Court in an interim order last week had stopped transportation of ore.
“The Supreme Court, in response to SPL filed by us and other mining leaseholders and traders in Goa, has permitted the transportation of iron ore extracted and transported out of mining lease areas on or before March 15 that is stocked at the jetties, ports and barges,” Vedanta said in a statement. “This update is based on the oral order dictated in the court today,” they said further.
When contacted, respondent Goa Foundation director Dr Claude Alvares said that all the applications are disposed off and the companies have asked them to go back to high court to get the order modified on April 11. “Until then, they are granted relief to transport the ore which was taken out and stacked at jetties and ports before March 15,” he said. “They are not allowed to transport ore that is lying outside the lease area,” Alvares said.
