India: Sarda Mines to continue mining operations as HC stays MoEF order

Sarda Mines says the High Court of Delhi has granted a stay against any notice asking the miner to stop work at Thakurani.

As SteelMint first reported, the Ministry of Environment,Forest and Climate Change had written to officials in Odisha on Monday seeking an immediate halt to mining on grounds that Sarda Mines' EC was invalid. The company, one of the state's largest iron ore producers, is contesting this argument.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a company official told SteelMint, "The Delhi High Court has stayed notice to stop mining in Sarda Mines taking cognisance of Supreme Court matter. The matter is now posted for 21 October. Sarda Mines may continue mining till then," claimed the official. In January, The Supreme Court had allowed mining to resume on condition that the miner first pay a penalty of INR 933 crore.

Officials at Odisha's Mines Directorate confirmed to SteelMint that they had verbally asked the mining to be stopped and were yet to issue formal orders. The gist of MoEF&CC's complaint seems to be that Sarda Mines' 2004 EC was applied under the EPA 1994 Act and thus has been granted only for five years and that the company had missed a six months window in 2017 the ministry had opened to consider "violation case".