Supreme Court seeks govt reply
on lifting Karnataka iron ore export ban [11.4.2022]
New Delhi, 11.4.2022, Monday :
The Supreme Court on Monday sought the steel ministry’s response on pleas to
lift the ban on the export of iron ore from Karnataka, after the mines ministry
responded favourably to requests by private miners to lift the ban imposed in
2013, saying that the situation on the ground has changed.
A bench headed by Chief
Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana, after going through the affidavit filed by
the mines ministry, sought a response from the steel ministry.
On April 18, 2013, the top
court had banned export of ore extracted from close to 34 iron mines operated
in the state’s three districts – Bellary, Tumkur and Chitradurga – because
miners violated rules. The court capped total extraction in these districts at
30 million metric tonnes (MMT). In December 2017, this limited was extended to
35 MMT.
Not happy with the
arrangement, private miners approached the apex court by filing applications to
lift the curbs as they claimed to have surplus ore that could neither be
exported nor sold outside of e-auction, as prescribed by the court.
Backing their demand, the
mines ministry in its affidavit filed on Saturday said, “The restriction
imposed on state of Karnataka was under extraordinary situation prevailing then
because of unprecedented illegal mining. However, the situation has changed.
This court may allow export of iron ore to bring these mines on par with other
states.”
The Centre relied on earlier
reports prepared by the expert committee assisting the court on environmental
issues, the central empowered committee (CEC), which had recommended
reconsideration of the ban.
The CEC in its June 2020
report said: “With implementation of relief and rehabilitation (R&R) plans
and scientific fixation of production limits, in each of the mining lease,
there has been substantial improvement in the environmental parameters in the
three districts.” The CEC further stated that the ban on exports was meant to
be an “interim” measure.
Relying on the same, the
Centre stated, “The regulatory scenario has vastly changed since 2015 by way of
the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act 2015.” These
mechanisms involved increased surveillance around the mining lease boundaries
to curb illegal mining, star rating for adopting sustainable mining practices,
and drone survey.
The response of the Centre
came in response to a set of applications by private miners, with the first
being filed by Vedanta in 2018 requesting export or sale of ore without
recourse to e-auction and guidelines for export or sale of ore.
The private miners represented
by advocates Dushyant Dave, Krishnan Venugopal and Rakesh Dwivedi informed the
court that such an arrangement was working to their detriment, as across the
country, there was no such restriction.
“I have over 5 lakh million
tonne of unutilized ore. Across the country, there is no such ban. Even the
steel ministry cannot say anything contrary to this position,” said Dave,
representing a private miner in the state. Venugopal appearing for Vedanta told
the Court that e-auction was meant to be a temporary arrangement and the
company should be permitted to sell its stock outside of this arrangement.
The bench, also comprising
justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli observed, “You are yourself to be blamed
for this, the way you have destroyed the environment.”
As additional solicitor
general KM Nataraj was appearing for Centre, the bench told the law officer to
deal with the impact on environment as well as the effect of spare ore with the
private miners remaining unutilized through e-auction in the affidavit to be
filed later in the week.
The Centre agreed that the
arrangement for Karnataka was unique in the country, and it was time to bring
the state in line with the mining laws prevailing across the country. “The
change in current scenario, as highlighted in the reports of the CEC,
necessitates a re-look on the restriction imposed earlier. The operation of
mining laws in Karnataka may be aligned with rest of the country….Apart from
Karnataka there is no restriction or embargo on export of iron ore.”
The CEC represented in court
by advocate ADN Rao presented figures for arriving at its conclusion to
reconsider the lifting of cap and ban on exports. The 2020 report highlighted
that in 2018-19, Karnataka produced 30.33 MMT of ore and, despite 229
e-auctions held, a total of 15.86 MMT ore remained unsold.
The court had on an earlier
occasion indicated that unsold stock could be due to high price fixed by the
company while faced with a request by the private miners to review its earlier
direction.
In 2011, the top court stepped
in to stop rampant extraction of natural resources by ordering a ban on mining
in Bellary, Tumkur and Chitradurga. This was done after a NGO, Samaj
Parivartana Samudaya, approached the court seeking orders to ban mining citing
the principle of intergenerational equity and preventing ecological and
environmental degradation.