SC rejects mining leaseholders plea, upholds Dec 31 deadline for penalty

Bhubaneswar: The mining leaseholders, engaged in illegal mining in Odisha, have to pay 100 percent penalty by December 31, ordered the Supreme Court today after rejecting their petition to extend deadline for the payment.

After the State government has issued demand notice to 152 leaseholders to pay the penalty of Rs Rs 17,576 for illegal mining by December 31, the leaseholders had moved the apex court seeking the royalty, taxes and logistics cost borne by them during mining to be excluded from the penalty.

They also urged that the penalty amount should be paid in installments.

However, the Supreme Court rejected the pleas of the leaseholders and  instructed them to pay the said amount by December 31 or stop further operations.

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Earlier in September, Odisha government had issued the notice to the mining leaseholders based on the August 2 order of the apex court directing the State to impose a 100 per cent penalty on illegal mining leaseholders and analyse legal aspects of the order to finalise the amount.

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