BHUBANESWAR: The State Government on Friday decided to challenge the judgment of the Mining Tribunal that set aside its order on refusal of granting mining lease in favour of Ram Bahadur Thakur (RBT) Limited. “The Government will challenge the September 26 order of the revision authority of the Ministry of Mines which set aside the refusal of Steel and Mines Department for granting mining lease in favour of RBT,” Steel and Mines Minister Raghunath Mohanty told mediapersons here. The State Government on July 20 last year refused to grant mining lease to RBT over an area of 96.568 hectare in village Katasahi of Keonjhar district after finding that the private firm had indulged in illegal mining activities. ‘’It was established that the company (RBT) was indulged in illegal mining activities and grant of mining lease is not in the interest of efficient mineral administrative and mineral conservation principles,’’ the State Government order said while refusing to grant mining lease to RBT. Though the State Government had earlier granted prospecting licence (PL) to RBT, it did not recommend the firm’s name for mining lease required for starting mining activities. When it came to the notice of the State Government that the firm was indulged in illegal mining activities even without having the mandatory mining lease (ML), the Minister said an administrative inquiry was conducted by the secretary of the Steel and Mines Department. The findings of the administrative inquiry and that of a separate investigation by the State Vigilance were similar. While setting aside the July 20, 2010, order of the State Government, the revision authority order said process of law was not followed by the Government and the petitioner succeeded in the revision with consequential benefits thereto.
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