Supreme Court Directs Orissa High Court To Dispose Matters In Which Status Quo Orders Have Been Passed Regarding Mining Licenses Within 6 Months

The vacation bench of Justices MR Shah and Aniruddha Bose issued the directions while considering SLP preferred by M/S Balasore Alloys Ltd assailing Orissa High Court's order of refusing to extend the interim order of status quo.

"It's not in dispute that the petitioner is not having forest clearance at this stage. Merely because the application for forest clearance is pending cannot be treated as having obtained forest clearance permitting the petitioner to carry excavation activity of mining. Under the guise of order of Status quo, the petitioner who does not have clearance cannot be allowed to carry the mining activity. The HC has rightly not extended the order of status quo.

Before parting with the order, we request the HC to decide & dispose of all the matter where the order of status quo is continuing in mining activity within the period of 6 months from today. The SLP is dismissed as withdrawn. Registry is directed to communicate this order to the CJ of HC forthwith," the bench said in its order.

When the matter was called for hearing, counsel for the petitioner sought to withdraw the SLP.

Raising objections on the petitioner's act of undertaking mining activity without forest clearance, Justice Shah the presiding judge of the bench said,

"We are in fact going to pass a general order where status quo order has been passed, we'll direct the HC to decide it within 6 months. Without forest clearance , how can you undertake mining?"

Responding to the remarks made by the judge, the petitioner's counsel said, "My application for forest clearance is pending. We've challenged the timelines. We have excavated the ore & have not been allowed to pick it up."

Expressing displeasure on the High Court granting status quo allowing to permit mining without forest clearance, the bench said,

"You cannot be permitted. By way of order of status quo, you cannot get mining clarence. It cannot be done. Even if the timelines were extended. We'll set aside the HC's order. Anything which is excavated without the forest clearance is illegal. You cannot be permitted to continue excavation

It's very unfortunate that the HC's are passing orders of status quo & continuing excavation without grant of forest clearance."

Case Title: M/S Balasore Alloys Ltd v. The State of Odisha| Diary No 16747 of 2022

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