SC notice to Karnataka government on restrictions on mining in 'patta' land

The top court said that interim relief granted to Patta landowners by HC for a period of four months would continue until further orders

The Supreme Court has agreed to examine a plea challenging the validity of 2016 amendment to the Karnataka Minor Minerals Concession Rules, 1994, which put restrictions on right of patta (private) landholders to undertake mining of granite in the state.

A bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian issued notice to the Karnataka government on a batch of petitions filed by S Nagaraju and others.

In the direction passed on March 26, the top court said that interim relief granted to Patta landowners by the High Court for a period of four months would continue until further orders.

The petitioners led by senior advocate Devadatt Kamat, advocate Sanjay Nuli and others contended that the amendment was against the fundamental rights to equality and to carry on one's trade, business and occupation. They challenged the Karnataka High Court's June 1, 2020, judgement saying it had failed to consider that the restrictions put through the amendment were unreasonable.

They claimed the 2016 amendment was made with a mala fide intention. "The authorities' intention is not to conserve the environment, but to make undue monetary gains," their plea alleged.