Supreme Court halts all mining in Goa
05 Oct 2012
The Supreme Court today ordered halt to operations in all the 90 mines in Goa following the Justice M B Shah Commission report, which estimated a Rs35,000-crore loss to the exchequer due to illegal mining in the last 12 years.
A Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Aftab Alam also restrained mining companies from exporting and selling ores, which have already been extracted.
A three-judge bench took note of the commission's report and issued notices to the central and state governments.
The bench also directed the Central Empowered Committee to submit its report on illegal mining in the state within four weeks.
The order comes on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by NGO Goa Foundation, seeking probe into illegal mining activities in the state.
The Goa government headed by chief minister Manohar Parrikar has already ordered a temporary suspension of all mining activity in the state in the light of the report by the Public Accounts Committee and the Justice Shah Commission.