SAMAJ PARIVARTANA SAMUDAYA & ORS. versus STATE OF KARNATAKA & ORS

Citation: [2022] 7 S.C.R. 539 · Decided: 26-08-2022 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: N.V. RAMANA, HIMA KOHLI, C.T. RAVIKUMAR · Disposal: Disposed off
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Judgment (excerpt)

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SAMAJ PARIVARTANA SAMUDAYA & ORS.
v.
STATE OF KARNATAKA & ORS.
IA Nos. 10973/2018, 83141/2017, 72931/2017 and 218/2014
In
(Writ Petition (Civil) No. 562/2009)
AUGUST 26, 2022
[N. V. RAMANA, CJI, HIMA KOHLI AND
C.T. RAVIKUMAR, JJ.]
Environmental laws:
Mines and minerals: Iron ore – Ceiling Limit on production –
Enhancement or removal – Production iron ore, from all mining
leases in Districts of Bellary, Tumkur and Chitradurga in the State
of Karnataka – In year 2011, complete ban imposed on mining in
the districts of Bellary, Chitradurga and Tumkur districts of
Karnataka on the basis of the report of Centrally Empowered
Committee-CEC – In the year 2012, on recommendations of CEC,
ceiling limit of 25 million metric tonnes-MMT in District Bellary
and 5 MMT in Chitradurga and Tumkur districts prescribed –
Applications seeking enhancement/lifting of ceiling cap – On basis
of the fresh report of CEC in the year 2017, ceiling limit increased
from 25 MMT to 28 MMT in District Bellary and from 5 MMT to 7
MMT in Chitradurga and Tumkur districts – However, presently the
stand of the CEC, the State of Karnataka, Ministry of Steel, Union
of India, Karnataka Iron and Steel Manufacturers Association and
mining lease holders that there should be complete removal of the
ceiling to ensure protection of the environment and keeping in mind
the principles governing intergenerational equity – However, the
petitioner’s case that lifting of the ceiling limit might lead to
unmitigated mining activity in the State and would result in regression
of the entire state of affairs – Held: The concerns raised by the
petitioner, of possible over excavation and its adverse impact on
intergenerational equity must be balanced and principle of
sustainable development should also come to play – Situation merits
a cautious approach – Conservation of the ecology and the
[2022] 7 S.C.R. 539
539
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2022] 7 S.C.R.
environment must go hand in hand with the spirit of economic
development and fine balance between two goals is to be achieved
– Thus, ceiling limit of iron ore to be raised from 28 MMT to 35
MMT in District Bellary and from 7 MMT to 15 MMT in Chitradurga
and Tumkur districts collectively.
CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION: IA Nos.10973/2018, 83141/
2017, 72931/2017 and 218/2014 in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 562 of 2009.
Under Article 32 of The Constitution of India
Tushar Mehta, SG, K. M. Nataraj, Ms. Madhvi Dewan, ASGs,
Nikhil Goel, AAG, Dushyant Dave, R. Balasubramanian, Sr. Advs., Aditya
Narayan, Rohit Sharma, Ganesh Bhatt, Sahil Mitra, Ms. Neha Sagwan,
Kumar Dushyant Singh, Prashant Bhushan, Ms. Rashmi Singh, Rajat
Nair, T.S. Sabarish, Mrs. Shraddha Deshmukh, Shubhranshu Padhai,
Shailesh Madiyal, Ms. Sujatha Bagadhi, Arvind Kumar Sharma, Omkar
Kambi, Parikshit P. Angadi, V. N. Raghupathy, Ms. Aparna Bhat, Advs.
for the appearing parties.
The following Order of the Court was passed:
ORDER
1. The present hearing is in continuation of our earlier hearing and
order dated 20.05.2022, whereby this Court had considered and granted
certain reliefs relating to the sale and export of iron ore in the Districts
of Bellary, Tumkur and Chitradurga in the State of Karnataka. In the
said order, we had specifically left open the question of the lifting/
relaxation of the ceiling limit for production of iron ore in the
abovementioned Districts and had sought an opinion from the Oversight
Authority appointed by this Court vide order dated 21.04.2022. The
observations made by this Court were as follows:
“22….For the present, we propose to confine the scope of this
order to examining the twin prayers made by learned counsel for
the applicants namely, permission to sell the unsold stock of iron
ore already excavated without resorting to the process of eauction
conducted through the Monitoring Committee and for lifting the
ban on export of iron ore/pellets from the districts of Bellary,
Chitradurga and Tumkur situated in the State of Karnataka.
Although certain submissions were made by the parties regarding
lifting of the ceiling limit for total production of iron ore, at this
juncture we are not inclined to decide the said issue.
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32. With respect to the submissions of the parties in relation to the
lifting of the ceiling limit for production of iron ore for mining
leases in the Districts of Bellary, Chitradurga and Tumkur, we are
of the considered opinion that it would be expedient to obtain an
o
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