Extern litigants interfering with mining in Goa: Congress MLA

 Litigants who go to court and get stay orders to halt mining in Goa should be externed, former Chief Minister and Congress MLA Pratapsingh Rane told the state Legislative Assembly on Tuesday.

Rane requested the BJP-led coalition government to urge the Centre to amend the laws to restart mining in Goa which has been banned by the Supreme Court since March 2018.

"There are some unemployed fellows who go to court every now and then. Who gives them money? And they are bringing stay orders and all that sort of nonsense," Rane told the state Assembly during the ongoing monsoon session, during a discussion on mining. 

"So many people are without jobs. We have to take action against them (petitioners). Extern them. All they do is go to court, get a stay order and stop work. Throw them outside Goa. They have destroyed Goa," Rane said.

The Supreme Court had banned all mining in 88 mining leases from March 2018, while also directing the state government to re-issue mining leases.

This is the second time in less than a decade that all mining activity in the state has come to a halt. It was first banned in 2012, following the revelation of a Rs 35,000-crore illegal mining scam which was unearthed by the Justice M.B. Shah Commission.

Rane said that the state government should lobby with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to amend central laws to expedite the resumption of the mining industry, which at its peak in 2011-12 contributed nearly 30 per cent of the state's Gross Domestic Product. IANS