Apex Court rejects 'out of turn' allotment of mining lease
Dec 12, 2006
Internal Press Release

In a significant judgement delivered on Monday, December 11th a three judge bench of the Hon'ble Supreme Court has set aside the out of turn allotment of chrome ore mining lease which was proposed by the Government of Odisha in favour of a private party.

The bench headed by the Hon'ble Chief Justice of India held that there was "considerable force in the submission……that the decision to grant lease to Nava Bharat in preference to the other applicants who were before the Government" including IMFA/ICCL, Jindal and Ispat was incorrect and, as such, not tenable. The judgement goes on to say that "we are of the view that on the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the decision to grant a lease to Nava Bharat out of turn was not justified, legal or proper".

Indian Metals & Ferro Alloys Ltd (IMFA) and Indian Charge Chrome Ltd (ICCL) – since merged with IMFA – besides others had challenged the out of turn allotment to Nava Bharat Ferro Alloys Ltd (since renamed Nava Bharat Ventures Ltd) on various grounds including that it was improper to have done so when there were prior applicants and a committee had also been set up by the State Government to examine the requirements of all claimants.

A spokesperson for IMFA said : "We will continue to press for our legitimate claim of raw material security and hope that this time around the State Government will take a considered view keeping all the relevant facts in mind".

For any information relating to IMFA Group or to enquire about a Press Release issued by us please contact:

Mr Kishore Mohan Mohanty
Bhubaneswar
email: kishoremohanty@imfa.in