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Chowgule and Company Private Limited v. Goa Foundation

Civil Appeal · 2020 INSC 110Decided 30 Jan 2020
Civil Appeal No. 839 of 2020
Chief Justice S.A. Bobde · Justice B.R. Gavai · Justice Surya Kant

Background

Following earlier Supreme Court rulings that cancelled illegally-renewed mining leases in Goa and ordered all mining to stop from 16 March 2018 until fresh leases and environmental clearances were granted, several mining companies and traders had iron ore that was already extracted and royalty-paid sitting at jetties and stockyards. The State of Goa permitted its transport, but the Bombay High Court struck down that permission, reading the Supreme Court's "stop mining" order as also barring transportation of already-mined ore.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that its earlier order only prohibited further mining activity after 15 March 2018, not the transportation of ore that had already been legally extracted and on which royalty was duly paid. It noted that the very same bench which passed the original mining-stoppage order had, on two later occasions, itself permitted transportation of such royalty-paid ore from jetties. Relying also on mining rules that allow a window of months to remove already-extracted minerals after a lease ends, the Court set aside the High Court's judgment and allowed the appellants to transport their already-mined, royalty-paid ore within six months.

Lesson Learnt

A court order halting an activity must be read according to its precise wording: a ban on "mining operations" does not automatically extend to separate, related activities like transporting already-extracted material, unless the order says so explicitly.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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