The Samaj Parivartan Samudaya, petitioner in the Supreme Court in the illegal mining case, on Thursday appealed to the Supreme Court to cancel permissions given to over 100 mining leases under Category A and B for what it said violating norms.
The Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) had, in its final report submitted on February 3, 2012, classified mining leases into Category A, B, and C based on the alleged illegalities and the court ordered the closure of 72 mining leases in Category C (those found to have indulged in illegal mining or encroachment). There are 45 mining leases in Category A and 49 leases in Category B.
Speaking to The Hindu , one of the petitioners and chairman of a study team of the samudaya Vishnu Kamath said that counsel for samudaya Prashanth Bhushan presented to court the alleged illegalities committed by the over 100 mines in Category A and B and sought cancellation of permission given to them.
He said that Mr. Bhushan also appealed to court to constitute two committees for prosecution and punishing the lessees who have allegedly committed illegalities and irregularities and for monitoring Rehabilitation and Reclamation of the mining areas.
Through Mr. Bhushan, the samudaya had urged the court to limit the annual extraction of ore from 30 million tonnes to 10 million tones per annum.
“We are contesting other issues raised under various interlocutory applications (IA) in the last two years,” Mr. Kamath added.
