Puti Gaonkar
ining Industry in the state has been present for more than 100 years and is supporting the livelihood of lakhs of Goans. Mining concessions were granted way back in 1905 by the erstwhile Portuguese Govt.
The Mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development) Act, 1957, was made applicable to Goa Daman and Diu from October 1, 1963, except for Section 16 (Power to modify leases granted before October 25, 1949). In the interim, the government sought information on the titles of concessions, and by various decrees collected levies, taxes and supervised extractions.
In the Judgment of “Vasudeva MahadevaSalgaoncar v/s Union of India & Others”, the Hon’ble Court held that the concessions cannot be considered as Lease, thereby restraining the Union government from enforcing the above notification and treating the concessions as mining leases. It is also on record that another provision of collecting taxes and levies was also retrospective but the Hon’ble court struck down the said clause and held that act is always prospective and cannot be enforced retrospectively.
The said mining concessions operated till May 1987, when Parliament by a Special law namely The Goa, Daman and Diu Mining Concession (Abolition and Declaration of Mining Leases) Act, 1987 abolished the concessions and by legal fiction deemed the same to be mining leases governed by the provisions of Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957. Although the Abolition Act was passed in 1987, the lease period was declared retrospectively from Dec 20, 1961.
The challenge to the Abolition Act is presently pending before the Supreme Court of India by Special leave Petitions.The Supreme court granted Leave and passed an interim order permitting the concessionaires to carry on mining operations and mining business in the mining areas for which renewal applications have been made.
Necessary and appropriate applications were made for 2nd Renewal of the Leases deed in terms of provisions of MMDR Act and the Mineral Concessions Rules, 1960 under the requisite statutory Form J, 12 Months Prior to the 1st Renewal Coming to an end i.e. before 22nd November 2007. The said applications remained pending with the State Government while mining in the said leases continued in accordance with the then concomitant understanding of Rule 24 A(6) i.e. in the event of the State Government not deciding upon the application or expressly reject the same, the previous lease, would be deemed to be extended till the date of decision by the State Government. The aforesaid understanding/interpretation of Rule 24A of the MCR, 1960 was restricted by the Honourable Supreme Court in Goa Foundation vs Union of India in 2014 only to situations pertaining to 1st renewals under MMDR Act.
The Goan Mining Industry had slowly recommenced operations after October 2015, when the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India by its order dated February 7th 2018 in the Special Leave to Appeal (Civil) No. 32138 of 2015 quashed the State Government order granting 2nd renewal of Mining leases in the state of Goa and directed the mining Lease’s to stop all mining operations w.e.f 16th March 2018.
This judgment on basis of assertions made by Goa Foundation, which is anyway known to be involved in multiple litigations and opposes development in Goa, has directed to close down the entire mining industry in Goa. Closure of mining industry can never be called as sustainable development; it is a regressive move away from development. From the recent trend it seems that the environmentalists in the country are convinced that economic growth and sustainability are mutually exclusive and cannot co-exist. It seems these NGOs are now fighting for skewed academic ideas of environmental protection with a complete disregard to the livelihood of ordinary Goans. This judgment is a bane for thousands of people forming part of the dependant population of Goa.
India is a country bestowed with rich mineral resources deposits and these words have been floating around since 1993 when the Ministry of Mines announced its very first National Mineral Policy with the intention of encouraging investments by private sector both domestic and overseas, for exploring and developing mineral resources of the country, but for the last 23 years all we have done is tinkering with the National Mineral Policy. The result is the latest draft National Mineral Policy 2018.
With introduction of auction process and delays in starting of mines as seen in other states. Till date there have been total 145 attempts to auction 87 major mineral blocks in 9 states. (only 2 mineral blocks are operational out of 41 blocks auctioned), continuous supply of raw material has been disrupted, and wasteful expenditure including dismantling of infra set up and capital required for restarting mining by the successful bidder is inevitable. The general consensus in India as well as overseas investors is that Auction mode of granting license for exploration coupled with high taxation and inordinate delays in granting of forest and environmental clearances are the main causes for the present shortfall of natural resources in our country.
If the Central Government can Promulgate an ordinance to legalise a bull taming sport in Tamil Nadu considering the wider public feeling, the question is Goa is about the lives of lakhs of Goans.
It pains me to see various people who have no experience or in depth knowledge about mining in the state of Goa are making immature and unfounded proclamations about the best mode for resumption of mining in the state. A question needs to be asked these so called experts being spoon fed limited facts and knowledge by people who don’t want to see the State and its inhabitants prosper.
The writer is President, GMPF (Goa Mining People’s Front)
