SC allows OMDC to resume mining ops

New Delhi: The Supreme Court, Tuesday, allowed the M/s Orissa Minerals Development Company (OMDC) Limited to resume mining operations in Odisha after getting necessary clearance.

A three-judge bench of the apex court headed by Justice SA Bobde and comprising AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian also held that the officers of the state of Odisha shall conduct a joint verification of the undisposed stock and allow sale of the same by the OMDC following due procedure. The bench also condoned the delay in payment of the compensation for illegal mining along with the interest by the OMDC.

“Since the interest is stated to have been paid for the period of delay, we find it expedient to condone the delay. Further, since the compensation amount along with interest has been paid as directed by this court and the receipt of the same is acknowledged by the state of Odisha, we also consider it appropriate to grant further relief sought in the applications,” the bench said.

Significantly, several applications were filed in the SC by OMDC seeking permission to resume regular mining operations in view of payment of the entire amount demanded. The applications pertain to the mining lease in favour of the company in respect of Roida­Bhadrasahi Iron Ore and Bhadrasahi Iron and Manganese respectively.

The appellant had also sought a direction to Odisha government to conduct joint verification of the undisposed stock and allow sale of the same so as to enable the applicant company to realise the amount. The applicant had also filed interlocutory application in the court seeking to condone the delay in payment in pursuance with the order passed by the court in 2017. The SC in its order dated August 2, 2017 had directed that the company to pay the compensation on or before December 2017.

Odisha, in its reply to the applications, has stated that the compensation amount as ordered by the apex court under Section 21(5) of the MMDR Act, 1957 has been fully paid by the applicant company along with interest in respect of all the mining leases held by the OMDC.