Sh. Kapil Nayyar vs State of Himachal Pradesh and Others

Deepak Gupta, J.—In Civil Review No. 154 of 2012, titled Court on its own motion vs. The Chief Secretary and others and connected matters, the judgment in which was delivered today, we have issued the following clarifications:-

Now it has been urged before us that it is impossible to obtain environmental clearance in a period of less than 18 months because of the various formalities involved and it has been prayed that the lessee may be permitted to continue with the mining activities till the period of completion of mining lease and only if the mining lease has to be renewed then the environmental clearance should be asked for.

Keeping in view the aforesaid submissions and the legal provisions which clearly show that about 1-11/2 years are required to obtain environmental clearance we feel that the request of the review petitioners is justified to a certain extent. We, therefore, clarify that our earlier directions dated 15th June, 2012 shall apply only in respect of those lease holders who had originally applied for mining lease of more than 5 hectares but had later reduced it to less than 5 hectares. In case of those lease holders who had applied for mining lease at the initial stage for the area less than 5 hectares, the mining activities shall be permitted to continue till the expiry of the mining lease or till 31st August, 2013 whichever is earlier. This gives a period of 11/2 years to the lessees to obtain the environmental clearance. We also make it clear that as and when such a lessee applies for environmental clearance his case(s) shall be considered on priority basis and it shall be disposed of in accordance with law before 31st August, 2013. The review petitions are allowed to the aforesaid limited extent. We may again clarify that as far as those lessees who had applied for grant of mining lease for areas exceeding 5 hectares but had later reduced it to less than 5 hectares are concerned, the previous order shall continue to apply with full force and vigour.

In view of the aforesaid clarifications, the case of the petitioner is squarely covered by the judgment delivered in Court on its own motion vs. The Chief Secretary and others. Therefore, the petitioner shall also be entitled to continue his mining operation till the expiry of the lease deed or till 31st August, 2013 whichever is earlier without any environmental clearance. The petition is disposed of accordingly.