New Delhi, April 13: The Supreme Court on Monday extended the stay on mining activities of the Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC), owned by Karnataka Ministers, G Karunakar Reddy and G Janardhan Reddy, in Anantapur district till April 22 and directed the Survey of India (SoI) to file its final report by that time.
The SoI, tasked to look into allegations of encroachment of land by the OMC, had submitted an interim report a few days ago recommending that all mining operations on the Karnataka-Andhra border be stopped so as to complete the survey work. It had also pointed out “marginal deviations” by OMC beyond its mining leases.
Against this backdrop, a Bench comprising Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan, Justice Deepak Verma and Justice BS Chauhan, heard the arguments of the State of Andhra Pradesh, represented by Attorney General Goolam Vahanvati, SoI represented by Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium and a host of senior lawyers batting for the OMC.
The Attorney General, citing the SoI’s interim report, wanted the boundary issue to be settled first. “The mining area has extended,” he pointed out referring to the deviations.
Gopal Subramanium said the interim report was prepared after conducting an aerial survey using GPS devices to pinpoint the exact outlines of the mining leases.
Senior counsel K Parasaran, appearing for the Obulapuram mines, argued that the deviations were marginal.
“Let them do a proper survey,” he said and made out a strong case for lifting the stay on mining activities.
The apex court posted the matter to April 23 for further hearing.
———Agencies