A petition filed in the Punjab and Haryana high court seeking quashing of the Punjab cabinet’s September 20 decision to allow “free mining” has been withdrawn.
The plea was dismissed as withdrawn as the government maintained that no new mining policy has been finalised yet. All the mining contracts are in place as per the existing policy, the government told the court. Terming the plea premature, the court allowed withdrawal of the plea.
The plea was filed by Mahadev Enclave Private Limited, a mining firm, which had approached the high court last week seeking quashing of the September 20 state cabinet decision. In the first cabinet meeting, chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi had sought a survey of the prices of sand and how to provide sand at cheaper rates, it was claimed. In the meeting, it was also decided to allow landowners to do mining in their areas.
The contractor termed the decision a “political gimmick” ahead of the assembly elections and claimed that the decision was totally illegal and arbitrary as it is against the law laid down in various judgments. The firm had also told the court that the move would lead to an “environmental disaster”.
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