Goa Foundation vs Union of India - 2013 Supreme(SC) 1403

Judicial Analysis Court Copy Headnote Facts Arguments Court observation

2013 Supreme(SC) 1403

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
A.K. Patnaik, Surinder Singh Nijjar, Fakkir Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifulla, JJ.
Goa Foundation - Petitioner
Versus
Union of India & Ors. - Respondents
W.P.(C) No. 435 of 2012 with W.P.(C) No. 99 of 2013 (H.L. Nathurmal vs Union of India and other), W.P. (C) No. 184 of 2013 (Rajesh P. Timblo vs Union of India and other), T.C. No. 136 of 2013 (Arising out of T.P.(C) No. 8 of 2013) (V. Salgocar and Brother Pvt. Ltd. and anr. vs The Shah Commission of Inquiry and Ors.), T.C. No. 133 of 2013 (Arising out of T.P.(C) No. 230 of 2013)(Goa Mining Association vs Shah Commission and Ors.), T.C. No. 131 of 2013 (Arising out of T.P.(C) No. 1441 of 2013) (Deepak M. Gharse vs Union of India and Ors.), T.C. No. 132 of 2013 (Arising out of T.P. (C) No. 1186 of 2013) (Pandurang Timblo Industries and Anr. vs Union of India and Ors.), T.C. No. 143 of 2013 (Arising out of T.C.(C) No. 574 of 2013) (Sociedade Timblo Urnais Limiteda and Anr. vs Union of India and Ors.), T.C.No. 140 of 2013 (Arising out of T.C. (C) No. 766 of 2013 (Ana Berta Do Rego E. Fernandes and Anr. vs Union of India and Ors.), T.C. No. 142 of 2013 (Arising out of T.P. (C) No. 770 of 2013) (Sociedade Timblo Irmaos Limiteda and Anr. vs Union of India and Ors.), T.C. No. 141 of 2013 (Arising out of T.P. (C) No. 776 of 2013)(Shri Aleixo Manual C.P. DA Costa vs Union of India and Ors.), T.C. No. 139 of 2013 (Arising out of T.P.(C) No. 836 of 2013) (Kunda Raghuvir Gharse vs Union of India and Ors.), T.C. No. 134 of 2013 (Arising out of T.P.(C) No. 864 of 2013) (Noor Mohd. Abdul Karim and Anr. vs Union of India and ors.), T.C. No. 135 of 2013) (Arising out T.P. (C) No. 866 of 2013) (Kamalini Ramakant Paiguinkar and Ors. vs Union of India and Ors.), T.C. No. 138 of 2013 (Arising out of T.P. (C) No. 869 of 2013) (Baddrudin Hassainbhai Mavani vs Union of India and Ors.)
Decided On : 11-11-2013

Advocates Appeared:
For the Amicus Curiae : Harish N. Salve, Sr. Adv. (NP) Uday Umesh Lalit, Sr. Adv. (NP) A.D.N. Rao, Siddharth Chowdhury, M.K. Jiwarajika, Member Secretary Central Empowered Committee.
For the Petitioner:Prashant Bhushan, In WP 435 Norma Alvares, Pranav Sachdeva, In WP 99 Amit Sharma, Kunal A. Cheema, In WP 184 Mr. Rohit M. Alex, P.S. Sudheer, Rishi Maheshwari, Anshul Gupta, In Rest of the TPs K.K. Venugopal, Sr. Adv. Chander Uday Singh, Sr. Adv. Pratap Venugopal, Surekha Rayan, Gaurav Nair, for K.J. John & Co., In TP 1441 R.A. Dada, Sr. Adv. Yashraj Singh Deora, In TP 574 For Mitter and Mitter Co., In TP 1186 Ranjit Kumar, Sr. Adv. Nitin Sardesai, Santosh Paul, Arvind Gupta, Piyush Sharma, Savita Singh, Santosh S. Anurlekar, Sanmit Bodke, Harish Pandey, Advocates.
For the Applicant In IA 1, 35 and 76 Goa Foundation :- Prashant Bhushan, Norma Alvares, Pranav Sachdeva, In IA 3 Goa Mining Labour Colin Gonsalves, Sr. Adv. Welfare Union Jubli Momalia, Jyoti Mendiratta, In IA 5 and 6 Amit Sharma, M/s HL Nathurmal Kunal A. Cheema, In IA 7 & 8 Goa Mining Assn. K.K. Venugopal, Sr. Adv. Chander Uday Singh, Sr. Adv. Pratap Venugopal, Surekha Raman, Varun singh, Meenakshi Chauhan, Anuj Sarma, Gaurav Nair, For KJ John & Co., In IA 10 & 72 Mukul Rohtagi, Sr. Adv. Sesa Goa Ltd. Ninad Laud, Meenakshi Chatterjee, Jayant Mohan, In IA 11, 12 & 60 Kiran Suri, Sr. Adv. Cose Costa & Sons S.J. Amith, Nakibur Rahman Barbhuiya, Ritika Gambhir, Dr. (Ms.) Vipin Gupta, In IA 13, 14 & 59 R.A. Dada, Sr. Adv. Sociedade Timblo Yashraj Singh Deora, Irmaos Limitada Anupama Dhurve, Abhishek Puri, Parag Rao, Swati Kamat, Linette Rodrigues, For K.J. John & Co., In IA 15 & 16 Triveni Poteker, Garge Barge Owners Chandra Shekhar Ashri,Assn. In IA 17 & 18 K.K. Venugopal, Sr. Adv. Aleixo Manual Chander Uday Singh, Sr. Adv. C.P. Costa Pratap Venugopal, Surekha Raman, Varun Singh, Meenakshi Chauhan, Anuj Sarma, Gaurav Nair, In IA 19, 20 & 21 Shikhil Suri, Salvia Oliver Shiv Kumar Suri, Rodrigues Chandrika Prasad Mishra, In IA 22 & 77 Shikhil Suri, Sudip N. Tamankar Shiv Kumar Suri, Chandrika Prasad Mishra, For P.V. Yogeswaran, In Ias 23-33 K.K. Venugopal, Sr. Adv. Ramcanta Visnum, Chander Uday Singh, Sr. Adv. Sociedade Sir Maha Pratap Venugopal, Laxmi, Shaikh Surekha Raman, Abdul Kuddus Varun Singh, Com. Mineria Pro. Meenakshi Chauhan, Ltda. Bhanudas, Anuj Sarma, Emco, Shashikala, Gaurav Nair, Atchuta Visnum, Rajaram Bandekar Mines, Smt.Shakuntala bai & Orient Goa In IA 38 M.N. Krishnamani, Sr. Adv. Dr. Prafulla R. Bhavani Shankar Gadnis, Hede Mines A. Venayagam Balan, In IAs 39-40 K.K. Venugopal, Sr. Adv. Motiram Data Chander Uday Singh, Sr. Adv. Goundalkar Pratap Venugopal, Ghanshyam Surekha Raman, Sardesai Varun Singh, Meenakshi Chauhan, Anuj Sarma, Gaurav Nair, For M/s. K.J. John & Co., Advs. In IA 41, 71 & 72 M/s. Bandekar Bros C.A. Sundaram, Sr. Adv. Pvt. Ltd. Parijat Sinha, Reshmi Rea sinha, Anil Kumar Mishra, S.C. Ghosh, In IA 42 M/s Madachem Bat C.A. Sundaram, Sr. Adv. Mines Pvt. Ltd. Parijat Sinha, Reshmi Rea Sinha, Anil Kumar Mishra, S.C. Ghosh, In IA 43 & 44 Village Panchayat of Kirlapal-Dabal & Ors. Madhu Sikri, In IA 45 K.K. Venugopal, Sr. Adv. M/s Baddruddin Chander Uday Singh, Sr. Adv. Hussainbhai Mavani Pratap Venugopal, Surekha Raman, Varun singh, Meenakshi Chauhan, Anuj Sarma, Gaurav Nair, For M/s. KJ John & Co., Advs. In IA 46 Kamalini Ramakant Painguinkar & Ors. K.K. Venugopal, Sr. Adv. Chander Uday Singh, Sr. Adv. Pratap Venugopal, Surekha Raman, Varun singh, Meenakshi Chauhan, Anuj Sarma, Gaurav Nair, For M/s. KJ John & Co., Advs. In IA 47 Pandurang Timblo Ranjit Kumar, Sr. Adv. Inds. & Anr. Nitin Sardesai, Santosh Paul, Arvind Gupta, Piyush Sharma, Savita Singh, Santosh S. Anurlekar, Sanmit Bodke, Harish Pandey, In IA 48 & 49 Rohit M. Alex, Rajesh P. P.S. Sudheer, Timbloo Rishi Maheshwari, Anshul Gupta, In IA 50 Braj Mishore Mishra, M/s Sarda Energy Shivam Sharma, & Minerals Ltd. Vikram Patralekh, Mohan Pandey, In IA 51 M/s Noor Mohd. Abdul Karim & Anr. K.K. Venugopal, Sr. Adv. Chander Uday Singh, Sr. Adv. Pratap Venugopal, Surekha Raman, Varun Singh, Meenakshi Chauhan, Anuj Sarma, Gaurav Nair, For M/s. K.J. John & Co., Advs. In IA 52 Shikhil Suri, Ramesh Sajo Shiv Kumar Suri, Gauns & Ors. Chandrika Prasad Mishra, In IA 53 Sriram Parakkat, Girish M. Ishaan George, Tendulkar & Ors. Vishnu Shankar Jain, Girish Tendulkar, Adv Sudha Gupta, In IA 54 Ninad Laud, Gomantak Inv. Aparna Singhal, Pvt. Ltd. Mahesh Agarwal, Rishi Agrawala, E.C. Agrawala, In IA 55 & 56 Ninad Laud, Damodar Mangalji Aparna Singhal, & Co. Ltd. Mahesh Agarwal, Rishi Agrawala, E.C. Agrawala, In IA 57 Geetabala Manohar Dhruv Mehta, Sr. Adv. Naik Parulekar Yash Raj Deora, Anupam Dhurve, Jayashree Wad, Ashish wad, Tamali Wad, Kanika Baweja, Niharika Bapna, Maria Fatima Noronha, For M/s J.S. Wad & Co., Advs. In IA 58 Ana Berta Do Rego E. Fernandes K.K. Venugopal, Sr. Adv. Chander Uday Singh, Sr. Adv. Pratap Venugopal, Surekha Raman, Varun singh, Meenakshi Chauhan, Anuj Sarma, Gaurav Nair, For M/s K.J. John & Co., Advs. In IA 61 & 62 Dhruv Mehta, G.N. Agrawal Sameer Athyankar, Yashraj Singh Deora, Maria Fatima Noronha, Abhishek Puri, Anupam Dhurve, M.P. Jha, In IA 63, 64 & 65 C.A. Sundaram, Sr. Adv. Chowgule & Co. Sumit Goel, Pvt. Ltd. Sarab Jot Walia, For M/s Parekh & Co., Advs. In IA 66 & 67 R.A. Dada, Sr. Adv. Hardesh Ores Rajesh Kumar, Pvt. Ltd. Anupama Dhurve, Abhishek Puri, Mohit Abraham, In IA 68 Goa Mining Foundation K.K. Venugopal, Sr. Adv. Chander Uday Singh, Sr. Adv. Pratap Venugopal, Surekha Raman, Varun singh, Meenakshi Chauhan, Anuj Sarma, Gaurav Nair, For M/s. K.J. John & Co., Advs. In IA 69 & 70 Timblo Enterprises K.K. Venugopal, Sr. Adv. Chander Uday Singh, Sr. Adv. Pratap Venugopal, Surekha Raman, Varun Singh, Meenakshi Chauhan, Anuj Sarma, Gaurav Nair, For M/s. K.J. John & Co., Advs. In IA 74 Crisna Mucunda Camotim K.K. Venugopal, Sr. Adv. Chander Uday Singh, Sr. Adv. Pratap Venugopal, Surekha Raman, Varun Singh, Meenakshi Chauhan, Anuj Sarma, Gaurav Nair, For M/s. K.J. John & Co., Advs. In IA 75 Jaisinh Maganlal K.K. Venugopal, Sr. Adv. Chander Uday Singh, Sr. Adv. Pratap Venugopal, Surekha Raman, Varun Singh, Meenakshi Chauhan, Anuj Sarma, Gaurav Nair, For M/s K.J. John & Co., Advs. In IA 78 Shantilal Kushaldas. Kiran Suri, Sr. Adv. & Bros P. Ltd. Dr. (Ms.) Vipin Gupta, S.J. Amith, Ritika Gambhir, Nakibur Rahman Barbhuiya, In IA 2580 & 2669 C.A. Sundaram, Sr. Adv. Sumit Goel, Sarab Jot Walia, For M/s. Parekh & Co., Advs. Colin Gonsalves, Sr. Adv. Jubli Momalia, Juno Rahman, Jyoti Mendiratta, In IA NO. 1123-1124 Prateeek Jalan, Biju M., Advocates.
For the Respondent:- A.N.S. Nadkarni, AG Arvind Datar, Sr. Adv.(NP) Siddharth Bhatnagar, Pawan Kumar Bansal, T. Mahipal, Advocates.
For the Union of India :- M/o Env. & Forests Mohan Parasaran, SG. Rakesh Kumar Khanna, ASG. D.L. Chidananda, Asha G. Nair, Kiran Bhardwaj, Seema Rao, Ashwin Kumar D.S., Anirudh Tanwar, Gunwant Dara, Sukhbeer Kaur Bajwa, Shreekant N. Terdal, D.S. Mahra, M/s Mines & Min. Mohan Parasaran, SG. Ritin Rai, D.L. Chidananda, Shreekant N. Terdal, RR 5 Shridhar Y. Chitale, Abhijat P. Medh, RR 6-Goa Min. Lab. Colin Gonsalves, Sr. Adv. Welfare Union Jubli Momalia, Jyoti Mendiratta, For RR 7-Chowgule C.A. Sundaram, Sr. Adv. & Co. Pvt. Ltd. Sumit Goel, Sarab Jot Walia, For M/s Parekh & Co., Advs. For RR 8-HL Nathurmal Amit Sharma, Kunal A. Cheema, For RR 9-Goa Min. K.K. Venugopal, Sr. Adv. Assn. Soc. Chander Uday Singh, Sr. Adv. Pratap Venugopal, Surekha Raman, Varun Singh, Meenakshi Chauhan, Anuj Sarma, Gaurav Nair, For M/s. KJ John & Co., Advs. For RR 10- M/s Mukul Rohtagi, Sr. Adv. Sesa Goa Ltd. Ninad Laud, Meenakshi Chatterjee, Jayant Mohan, For RR 11-Cosme Kiran Suri, Sr. Adv. Cose Costa & Sons S.J. Amith, Nakibur Rahman Barbhuiya, Ritika Gambhir, Dr. (Ms.) Vipin Gupta, For RR 12- Socie. Anupama Dhurve, Tim.Irmaos Lim. Abhishek Puri, For Rr No. 13 Goa Barge Owners Triveni Potekar, Assn. Chandra Shekhar Ashri, For RR 14 For M/s Mitter & Mitter Co., Advs. For RR 15-27 K.K. Venugopal, Sr. Adv. Chander Uday Singh, Sr. Adv. Pratap Venugopal, Surekha Raman, Varun Singh, Meenakshi Chauhan, Anuj Sarma, Gaurav Nair, For M/s. KJ John & Co., For RR 28 -M/s. Bandekar Bros C.A. Sundaram, Sr. Adv. Pvt. Ltd. Parijat Sinha, Reshmi Rea sinha, Anil Kumar Mishra, S.C. Ghosh, For RR 30 - M. N. Krishnamani, Sr. Adv. Dr. Prafulla Bhavani shankar Gadnis, Hede Mines A. Venayagam Balan, S.M. Walawaikar, Rameshwar Prasad Goyal, For RR 31 & 32 K.K. Venugopal, Sr. Adv. Chander Uday Singh, Sr. Adv. Pratap Venugopal, Surekha Raman, Varun Singh, Meenakshi Chauhan, Anuj Sarma, Gaurav Nair, For M/s. KJ John & Co., Advs. S.M. Walawaikar, Rameshwar Prasad Goyal, Advocates.
For the State :- Dr. Manish Singhvi, AAG. Rajasthan in Amit Lubhaya, IA 1000 Milind Kumar, Tarun Johri, Sumita Hazarika, Suchitra A. Chitale, Ejaz Maqbool, P.V. Yogeswaran, In IA 1412 P.H. Parekh, Sr. Adv. For M/s. Parekh & Co., D.K. Garg, Gaurav Agrawal, Purnima Bhat Kak, K. Parmeshwar, K.L. Janjani, Y. Rajagopal Rao, Advocates.

Headnote:
Constitution of India – Article 21 – State of Goa for mining and transportation of mineral ores – Hearing of the Writ Petition and all other connected matters – Writ Petition and all other connected matters, we were informed by the learned Advocate General of the State of Goa, through his written arguments, that presently approximately tons of excavated mineral ores are lying in different mines and stockyards in the State of Goa, of which inventory has been fully taken by the Department of Mines and Geology, Government of Goa. Mr. Nadkarani submitted that these excavated mineral ores cannot be put back and if these are allowed to remain in the mines/stockyards, the environment would be polluted and, therefore, the excavated mineral ores should be allowed to be transported as early as possible, now that the Goa (Prevention of Illegal Mining, Storage and Transportation of Minerals) Rules, 2013 have been framed and notified –Held, Each Member of the Expert Committee, who is not working in Government Department or Government Agency would be entitled to the last pay drawn by him and daily allowances at the rate applicable to Secretary, Government of India, and travel expenses as per actuals and will submit his bill to the Registry of this Court which will be paid out of the Ad-hoc CAMPA funds – Expert Committee will also submit an interim report on the ceiling/capping to be prescribed for excavation of iron ore in Goa – Copy of this order will be sent by the Registry to every member of the two Committees and after receipt of the interim reports of both the Committees, the matters will be listed in Court – When the matters are listed, the State of Goa and the Union of India will also produce in Court copies of the reports of NEERI and the Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad, respectively, to which the State of Goa and the Union of India have entrusted Environmental Impact Assessment study on mining in the State of Goa – Affidavit filed on behalf of State of Goa and a Copy of the recent Notification issued by the Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India filed in course of the day be accepted as part of the records – Ordered Accordingly.

ORDER :

1. On 05.10.2012, this Court while issuing notice in the Writ Petition had directed that till further orders all mining operations in the leases identified in the Shah Commission's Report and transportation of Iron Ore and Manganese Ore from the mines and stockyards in the State of Goa shall remain suspended, as recommended in the Commission's Report.

2. In the course of hearing of the Writ Petition and all other connected matters, we were informed by the learned Advocate General of the State of Goa, Mr. Atmaram N.S. Nadkarani, through his written arguments, that presently approximately 11.48 million tons of excavated mineral ores are lying in different mines and stockyards in the State of Goa, of which inventory has been fully taken by the Department of Mines and Geology, Government of Goa. Mr. Nadkarani submitted that these excavated mineral ores cannot be put back and if these are allowed to remain in the mines/stockyards, the environment would be polluted and, therefore, the excavated mineral ores should be allowed to be transported as early as possible, now that the Goa (Prevention of Illegal Mining, Storage and Transportation of Minerals) Rules, 2013 have been framed and notified.

3. Mr. Prashant Bhushan, learned counsel for the petitioner, submitted that the excavated mineral ores lying in the mines/stockyards in the State of Goa may be allowed to be transported, but should not be allowed to be exported and instead may be sold by e-auction to local industrial consumers in the country, who need Iron Ore for their industries. Mr. Krishnan Venugopal, learned counsel for some of these steel industries from Karnataka (intervenors) submitted that the excavated iron ores be sold to these steel industries in Karnataka, which have run out of iron ores for their steel plants.

4. Mr. Harish Salve, Amicus Curiae, on the other hand, submitted that:

(b) the sale proceeds/export proceeds retained by the Monitoring Committee may be released only after a final decision regarding legality of the iron ore is taken and after deducting the value of the illegally removed mineral from the over burdened dumps etc., and after obtaining permission by this Hon'ble Court; and

(c) the Monitoring Committee may comprise (a) a senior officer of the Mines Department, nominated by the Chief Secretary Goa, not below the rank of Joint Secretary to the Government of India (ii) Dr U.V. Singh, Member, Monitoring Committee for Karnataka, and (iii) Addl. PCCF, Regional Office, MoEF, Bangalore."

5. After considering these submissions, we direct that the inventory of the excavated mineral ores lying in different mines/stockyards/jetties/ports in the State of Goa, made by the Department of Mines and Geology of the Government of Goa will first be verified and thereafter the whole of the inventorised mineral ores will be sold by e-auction and the sale proceeds (less taxes and royalty) will be retained in separate fixed deposits (lease-wise) by the State of Goa till the Court delivers the judgment in these matters on the legality of the leases from which the mineral ores were extracted. This entire process of verification of the inventory, e-auction and deposit of sale proceeds in fixed deposits will be monitored by

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