High Court tightens noose on mineral mining

The first bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice R Mahadevan on perusing the status report filed by amicus V Suresh in the case, directed V V Minerals to furnish the requisite information to Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) within two weeks and the DAE in turn to file necessary affidavit to the court two weeks thereafter. 

The interim order is in sequel to a suo motu PIL relating to alleged illegal mining of Beach Sand Mineral (BSM) in Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli and Kanniyakumari districts pending before the High Court. The bench also directed the Advocate General to file the report stated to have been prepared by Gagandeep Singh Bedi, Revenue Secretary, in respect of Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari districts. However, the bench held that the submission of the report is subject to what the Government and the other respondents in the case have to say in this behalf. The bench also impleaded the Commissioner of Customs and Central Excise, Thoothukudi Port, its Regional Commissioner in Chennai and the Chairman of VO Chidambaranar Port Trust as party-respondents in the case and posted the matter for further hearing on January 11. 

Also, the bench on holding that “there is undoubtedly a sea of litigations being initiated in different courts broadly arising from the same issue, sought the counsel for V V Minerals to sit with the Amicus and work out as to which of these suits or writ petitions are really liable to be maintained in view of the broader conspectus being brought before this court and thus, the courts are not unnecessarily burdened by different suits and writ proceedings and the possibility of conflict of orders. The Amicus in the case had submitted that despite the ban on mining of beach sand minerals and transport of the same post September 2013, the separation or processing for which the primary material is the raw beach sand are continuing to function uninterrupted in the districts of Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli by VV Minerals Transworld Garnet India (p) Ltd, Beach Mineral Co (P) Ltd and Indian Mineral Company.