Raj HC annuls state govt's ban on interstate trade of Felspar mineral

The Rajasthan High Court on Thursday quashed a two-year-old ban on interstate transportation of the Felspar mineral in the form of chips, grains and gitti, imposed by the the state government.

A Jodhpur bench of the high court annulled the ban imposed in October 2018, terming its as unconstitutional and violative of the part XIII of the Constitution dealing with interstate trade and commerce in India.

A bench of justices Vineet Kumar Mathur and Sanget Lodha quashed the ban saying that the state government was not empowered to put restrictions on the transportation of the minerals outside the state and annulled the Rajasthan government's two notifications, dating back to October 2018 and March 2019.

 

The impugned notification issued by the state government putting restriction on the transportation of the mineral Felspar in lumps or in the form of grains, chips and gitti, so as to protect the domestic industries in purported public interest, are violative of the provisions of part XIII of the constitution and deserved to be quashed, the bench ruled.

The court ruling came on a bunch of petitions challenging the state government's two notifications banning the interstate transportation of the minerals.

The government had first restricted the transportation of Felspar in lumps out of state for three years through a notification dated October 5, 2018, and then the transportation of mineral in the forms of chips, grains and gitti till October 4, 2021 through another notification dated March 10, 2019.

During the hearing of petitions, petitioners' counsel P P Choudhary had argued that the interstate transport of Felspar in its various forms were banned by the government in the name of protection of domestic industries and in public interest.

The state government cannot ban the transportation of the legally excavated Felspar mineral in form of grains, chips and gitti while allowing its transportation only in powder form, Choudhary argued.

He further contended that the state could not prohibit the transportation of minerals, which has been excavated legally with the permission of the state government, across state borders.

Assisting senior advocate Choudhary, counsel Ramit Mehta argued, Such a ban of the movement or transportation of mineral outside Rajasthan was unconstitutional and in violation of the freedom of interstate trade and commerce, said Ramit Mehta, who assisting in the arguments.