THE JHARKHAND STORY DESK
New Delhi, Oct 15: The Jharkhand government has sought an additional day to file an affidavit in the Saranda sanctuary case. SAIL also attempted to raise its concerns, but the court noted that the company had already been granted protection. The next hearing in the matter is scheduled for October 17.
The case was heard by a bench of Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the state government, requested an extra day to submit the affidavit and suggested that the hearing be scheduled for Friday.
Following this, SAIL’s counsel mentioned that the company had certain issues related to the mining case. However, Chief Justice Gavai intervened, stating that SAIL had already been protected.
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Earlier, the hearing in the Saranda case took place on October 8. After considering the arguments presented by the state government and SAIL, the court permitted the government to declare 31,468.25 hectares of land as a sanctuary in place of the earlier proposed 57,519.41 hectares.
The court had also allowed SAIL and other valid iron ore leaseholders to be kept outside the sanctuary’s impact zone. It directed the state government to submit an affidavit regarding the sanctuary declaration after one week.
The government argued that it intended to declare 31,468.25 hectares as a sanctuary in compliance with the NGT’s directions. However, mining is restricted within a one-kilometre radius outside the sanctuary, which would affect SAIL and other valid leaseholders.
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The state therefore requested time to identify 31,468.25 hectares in a way that would not impact ongoing mining operations. The court granted a week’s time for this and directed the government to file an affidavit on the next date of hearing.
