PANAJI
A mining lease agreement between the Goa government and Vedanta Ltd, executed after the Model Code of Conduct for the Lok Sabha elections came into effect has been called out by Goa’s additional chief electoral officer, Sunil Masurkar, who has now referred the matter to the Election Commission of India (ECI).
Masurkar went into the deal between the State government and Vedanta Ltd after a complaint was filed on the ground that the lease deed was signed on March 22, violating the MCC.
Masurkar said in his order referring the matter to the ECI that although it is part of a previous contractual commitment, the mining lease deed was executed by the department during the MCC period and is an independent agreement.
“It is binding on the part of the department to obtain prior permission of the Election Commission of India and hence contravenes 21 (f) of the guidelines,” Masurkar said in his reference order earlier this week.
He had earlier issued notice to the Director of Mines and Geology, who defended the deal, saying it was a “contractual obligation” and part of an ongoing process of restarting mining through auctions.
The MCC came into force when the ECI announced the schedule of the nationwide Lok Sabha polls on March 16 and the mining lease deed in question was executed on March 22.
An NGO had filed the complaint arguing that the agreement was executed without the ECI’s approval when the MCC was already in force.
