The Orissa government has said no to a CBI inquiry into illegal mining of iron and manganese in the state even though the Justice MB Shah commission had recommended a probe by the agency.
According to the mines ministry?s action taken report (ATR) given for approval by the committee of secretaries (CoS), ?the (Orissa) government is of the view that an inquiry by the CBI is not necessary as the trial of cases has already started and the courts have taken cognizance of the offences. Taking over the case by the CBI at this stage will only disrupt the ongoing proceedings.?
The Shah commission demanded a CBI probe into illegal mining in the Joda circle region, leading to a colossal financial loss of about R60,000 crore to the state exchequer and has asked the state government to recover the amount from the miners.
According to the ATR, Orissa, however, has accepted the proposal to sell iron-ore via e-auction route in future on similar lines as is done in Karnataka. The report said the state government also accepted that it will cap the annual production from major iron ore mines ? at 40 million tonne for Joda and 12 million tonne for Koira mines ? so that the resource is not exhausted, requiring future generations to import iron ore.
The mines ministry’s ATR also said the Centre has agreed with the recommendation made by the Shah commission to amend Rule 24A(1) of the Mineral Concession Rules, 1960, to provide applications for renewal of a mining lease to be made before the state government at least 24 months before the date of expiry of the lease. Further, the ministry highlighted that there is a need for introducing competitive bidding and a law needs to be framed/amended ?to reduce the margin of entrepreneurs who take undue
advantage of the existing law to make profit?.
Sources close to the development indicated that the CoS will soon approve the ATR and the commission report and these will then be placed before the Cabinet. The Shah report has been lying with the government for more than six months now. What has expedited the process is a Supreme Court direction to the Centre to submit the report on illegal mining in Orissa and Jharkhand to it by January 27.
The Centre-appointed Justice M B Shah in November 2010 to probe into the large-scale illegal mining of iron and manganese in the country under the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952.
