New Delhi: Taking note of Goa's plea of “zero tolerance” against illegal mining, the Supreme Court today asked the state government as to why there was no regulatory mechanism in place to check illegal iron ore extraction there.
“They knew what was happening. If you (state government) have bonafide intentions then don't you think that some regulatory mechanism should have been in place. It was not there,” the forest bench headed by Justice A K Patnaik said.
Senior advocate Arvind Datar, appearing for the BJP-ruled state government, said, “We came in power in March, 2012 and besides existing laws such as the MMDR (Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act) and the Wild Life Act, we have prepared a comprehensive mining policy draft to regulate mining.”
The bench, also comprising justices S S Nijjar and F M Ibrahim Kalifulla, said the private firms would “go for the money as they are not there for charity”, but there should be some regulatory mechanism in place.
The counsel, appearing for Goa and its pollution control board, started his arguments with the submission that the PIL be dismissed on various grounds including that “factual positions” about the actions taken by the state to curb illegal mining has been concealed by NGO Goa Foundation, which has filed the PIL, from the court.
“These technical plea will not work as the constitutional issue of Article 21 (right to life) and the public interest are involved,” the bench said.
“Goa has zero tolerance policy towards illegal mining and it suspended the mining operations on September 10, 2012, three days after the report of Justice M B Shah Commission was tabled in the Parliament,” the lawyer said and referred to the state government's affidavit that accused the previous regime of illegal iron ore extraction in the state.
The bench is hearing the PIL filed by the Goa Foundation, an environmental action group, on the illegal mining in Goa.
