Ranchi — The Jharkhand High Court has reiterated that sand ghats and minor mineral auctions in the state cannot proceed until the government formally notifies rules under the PESA Act, 1996.
Rejecting the state’s plea to lift the ban, a bench led by Chief Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan reminded the government of its repeated failure to meet deadlines. “First notify the rules, only then will we allow auctions,” the Chief Justice remarked.
Advocate General Rajiv Ranjan told the court that a draft of the rules has been prepared and inputs are awaited from departments, after which the Cabinet will consider them for notification within a month. The bench, however, pressed the state on why departments failed to send their comments on time.
The prohibition, imposed on September 9 while hearing a contempt plea filed by the Adivasi Intellectual Forum, came after the court found deliberate delays in implementing PESA. The next hearing is scheduled for October 9.
With inputs from IANS