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Goa Foundation v. Union of India, Bandekar Brothers' ore application

Interlocutory Application · Neutral citation not assigned (Interlocutory Application No. 86 of 2014 in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 435 of 2012)Decided 14 Oct 2014
Interlocutory Application No. 86 of 2014 in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 435 of 2012
Justice J.S. Khehar · Justice J. Chelameswar · Justice A.K. Sikri

Background

A former Goa mining lessee asked to retain and privately sell ore it said had been lawfully extracted before its lease expired in November 2007. It sought to stop that ore from being sold in the court-supervised e-auction of inventoried stocks. The application concerned existing extracted ore, not permission to restart mining.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court dismissed the application. Its earlier directions required the entire inventoried stock, including ore at mines, stockyards, jetties and ports, to be auctioned under supervision. The lessees were entitled to the approximate extraction costs identified by those directions rather than private sale rights over the stocks. The Court also relied on the lease-removal rules and held that its earlier vesting directions satisfied the requirement that remaining ore pass to the State without a separate formal notice. An assertion that the ore was mined before expiry did not create an exception to this auction arrangement.

Lesson Learnt

Lawful extraction at an earlier date does not necessarily preserve indefinite private disposal rights after a mining lease ends. For stocks covered by a court-supervised inventory, the applicable lease terms and auction directions govern the claim.

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

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