HC Junks PILs Opposing Nod For Capacity Expansion at Surjagarh Iron Ore Mines in Gadchiroli

The Bombay High Court has dismissed two public interest litigations (PILs) challenging the Centre's grant of permission to capacity expansion at Surjagarh iron ore mines of Lloyds Metals and Energy Ltd in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district, saying they were devoid of merit.

The PILs, filed by a Raipur resident, alleged the entire process of Environmental Clearance granted by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) for expansion of mining capacity at Surjagarh from 3 MTPA to 10 MTPA and further Term of Reference (ToR) towards expansion from 10 MTPA to 26 MTPA, was illegal.

The pleas were filed by Raipur resident Samarjeet Chatterjee in the HC's Nagpur bench.

A division bench of Justices Nitin Sambre and Abhay Mantri, in its order of May 9 which was uploaded on Friday, observed that due procedure based on ToR (for capacity expansion) was followed and added both PILs were devoid of merit.

The petitioner had also alleged that a public hearing for environmental clearance was conducted at a place far away from the project site in Gadchiroli, a Naxal-affected district in eastern Maharashtra.

On this, the court observed, "The fact remains that in compliance with the Environmental Impact Assessment notification dated May 29, 2006, as amended on December 1, 2009, a public hearing was conducted at the district headquarters, which is perhaps properly secured in view of the Naxal menace." Counsels for the respondents submitted the petitioner has no locus standi in the matter, and since he never attended the hearing conducted by the collector at the district headquarters, he lost the opportunity to question the legality of orders impugned in these PILs.

They submitted that the initial Environmental Clearance (EC) was granted in 2005-06 after the hearing conducted by the collector at the very same place. The said hearing was never questioned by the petitioner for the last 20 years, thereby raising doubts about his intention.

The counsels noted the EC for 10 MTPA was issued by MoEF&CC in strict compliance with provisions of the EIA notification dated May 29, 2006, and the SOP (standard operating procedure) issued by the Ministry.

Though the hearing was conducted at Gadchiroli district headquarters on recommendation of the police department as the project site fell within a Naxal-affected area, all local residents were given due opportunity to present their say on the mining project, they argued.

The HC said so far as contention that the green nod ought not to have been granted contrary to the SOP dated July 7, 2021, is concerned, "we are required to be sensitive to the fact that it is only in case if the enhanced capacity is sought to the extent of 50 per cent of the existing capacity, requirement of fresh environmental clearance certificate is done away with".

The court observed that in the case at hand, complete procedure based on ToR was followed.

That being so, in the aforesaid background, both PILs are sans merit and hence, they are dismissed at no costs, it noted.