The Madras High Court Bench here on Thursday stayed the operation of an order passed by the Board of Approval for Special Economic Zones (SEZs), functioning under the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry, on March 27 restraining V.V. Mineral, a leading beach sand mineral processor and exporter, from carrying out any kind of transaction from its unit at an SEZ in Nanguneri in Tirunelveli district.
Justice M.V. Muralidaran also granted interim stay of an order passed by MEPZ SEZ on December 28 suspending the Letter of Approval (LoA) issued to the firm in 2011. The orders were passed on a writ petition filed by the firm claiming that the LoA had been suspended on the basis of a letter written by Tirunelveli Collector though the Special Economic Zones Act of 2005 does not provide for suspension of the LoA.
No transactios allowed
When the firm took the matter on appeal, the Board of Approval remanded the issue to MEPZ SEZ for a fresh consideration as per the rules. However, it ordered that no transaction of the firm would be allowed until the issue was reconsidered, and hence, the mineral firm had moved the High Court on the ground that suspension of its operations and not allowing it to honour export commitments would cause irreparable loss.
