Shah panel report: SC asks Centre to respond on denial of extension

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre to file its response by Wednesday on a plea challenging its decision not to grant extension beyond 16 October to the Justice MB Shah panel inquiring into mining-related issues. “A reply be filed by Wednesday and the matter put for hearing on Monday,” a three-judge forest bench of justices AK Patnaik, SS Nijjar and FM Ibrahim Kalifulla said. The Justice Shah panel was appointed to inquire into illegal iron ore mining in the country and like in the case of the Central Empowered Committee (CEC), it has also been wound up with malafide intention, Prashant Bhushan, appearing for NGO Goa Foundation and others, said. Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran, appearing for Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), said the reply was ready and would be filed during the week. Earlier, the court had issued the notice to the MoEF on the plea, which, besides the NGO, was moved by SR Hiremath, founder President of Samaj Parivartana Samudaya (SPS) and Keshav Shori, Director of the Development Initiative for Sustainable Human Advancement (Disha). The plea said either the Centre be asked to extend the tenure of the panel or another commission be formed under chairpersonship of Justice Shah to inquire into all aspects of illegal mining and other mining-related issues in the country. The plea also sought a direction to the central government to place all reports of the Justice Shah Commission of Inquiry in the public domain. The government has “malafidely” wound up the panel on 16 October, it said, adding its reports had exposed “illegal mining” and that had led to banning of extractions of minerals in Goa. Extension has been denied to the panel 16 when it was examining the illegal mining in Chhattisgarh in accordance with its terms of reference, it said. The panel was given its first extension from July 17, 2012 to July 16, 2013. The application said, “The decision not to grant extension to the Justice Shah Commission, as was sought by the Commission, itself is clearly malafide since it had become clear that the work of the Commission was affecting the interest of the big corporates and mining barons as well as of the top politicians and ministers in the country. “Hence, decision to close Justice Shah Commission prior to completion of investigation of gross illegal mining activities in these states is malafide since it is feared that the Commission’s work, which is still to be completed in certain respects, will expose the collusion of government officials in the loot of public resources and the inability of the Ministry of Mines to control the situation.” On the one hand, government keeps extending the term of the “useless” Commission of Inquiries for decades together, but here a Commission that was doing good work and was submitting detailed actionable reports has been closed, it rued. This court should direct the government to extend the term of the Justice Shah Commission of Inquiry or make the said Commission as a court-appointed one to enable completion of inquiry in accordance with its terms of reference and submit reports to the central government and to this court, it added. PTI