Supreme Court directs CEC to rework penalty against Sarda Mines

The Supreme Court has directed the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) which was probing into illegal mining in Odisha to rework the quantum of excessive mining carried out by Sarda Mines Pvt. Ltd. (SMPL) and the consequent penalty imposed on it amounting to about Rs 19.38 billion.

The CEC has been granted six weeks’ time to rework its earlier calculations. This brings a relief to the miner which had been issued demand notices by the Odisha government for collection the penalty.

In a case filed by the non-government organisation ‘Common Cause’, the Supreme Court in August last year had directed the miners, who