PANAJI
The crucial mining case is likely to come up for hearing in the Supreme Court on July 6 before Justice Shah and Justice D Y Chandrachud.
The last hearing in the case was held on March 17 and the matter was set to be listed on April 7. But the matter did not come up for hearing due to the spike in Covid cases.
It may be recalled that, in February 2018, the Supreme Court had quashed the second renewal of 88 mining leases, bringing the mining industry in the State to a halt.
Last year, the State government filed a review petition against the order. The mining companies had filed a special leave petition (SLP) in the apex court after the high court of Bombay at Goa dismissed their petitions challenging the Goa, Daman and Diu (Abolition and Declaration of Mining Leases) Act, 1987.
A few days back representatives of some 26 village panchayats from Goa’s mining belt had again appealed to SC, to urgently take up the resumption of mining in Goa so as to provide relief to the mining dependents.
These representatives of village panchayats claimed that, the Goa Mining industry has been misrepresented before government agencies and also the judiciary.
Panchayat representatives had also filed a similar representation in the SC several months ago in which they had demanded a solution to the impasse faced by them for the past 40 months of mining stoppage.
They had further said that immediate resumption is the only solution to the devastation caused by mining stoppage which has disrupted over 3 lakh livelihoods and which has been followed by the impacts of the Covid pandemic on the tourism sector adding to the economic hardships.
