Advocate General D V Sitarama Murthy informed the A P High Court on Monday that 60 per cent of the iron ore mined by Obulapuram Mining Company fell in the area which is disputed between OMC and Bellary Iron Ore Pvt Ltd (BIOP). OMC is owned by Karnataka BJP minister Gali Janardhan Reddy and the state had last week suspended the mining leases including that of OMC operating in the Bellary reserve forest in Anantapur district.
The division bench comprising Chief Justice Anil Ramesh Dave and Justice C V Nagarjuna Reddy, while hearing a petition by OMC which questioned the state government’s decision to suspend its mining operations, asked the state to quantify the exact amount of ore that was said to have been illegally mined.
Responding to the argument of OMC which said that the order to stop mining was given even without hearing it, the AG said there were allegations that the OMC was mining in reserve forest areas also.
“At least 60 per cent of the iron ore mined is in dispute as regards the boundaries of the mining area. We will conduct a survey and refix the boundaries of the leasehold areas of the concerned companies,” he said.
Meanwhile, Tapal Ganesh, who had alleged illegal mining by OMC, sought on Monday to implead himself in this petition through his counsel. He made a complaint against OMC saying that it made the Pollution Control Board a respondent in its petition only to ensure that it reaches a division bench instead of first going to a single judge. The bench made a suggestion asking him to file a separate petition instead. The matter would be heard again on Tuesday.
Source: Times Of India
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