Centre’s petition for review of Supreme Court’s historic decision on mineral royalty, the decision was given by a bench of 9 judges

New Delhi: The central government is upset over a decision of the Supreme Court. In this decision, the states have been given the right to impose tax on mining and mineral land. The central government says that this will cause a huge financial burden. The Center has demanded a reconsideration of this decision and has said that there are many mistakes in it. This matter is related to the decision of the 9-judge bench of the Supreme Court on July 25. The central government has filed a petition against this decision along with Madhya Pradesh. The Center says that this matter is related to the fundamental rights of the citizens of the country. Also, this is an issue of public interest and if it is not heard in open court, it will be a big injustice.‘Reconsideration of the decision of the Constitutional Bench?’
Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi appeared on behalf of some mineral-rich states. he/she demanded that after the decision of the 9-judge bench, the cases related to the outstanding amount should be listed before a regular bench as soon as possible so that the states can get financial relief as soon as possible. In response, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and senior advocate AM Singhvi told the bench headed by CJI DY Chandrachud that the Center and a unit of Tata Group have filed a petition against this decision. Hearing this, the CJI said, ‘Reconsideration of the decision of the Constitution Bench?’

Mining of minerals without paying tax has benefited a lot
Rakesh Dwivedi said that the filing of the review petition by the Center is an indication that PSUs, which have benefited heavily from mining of minerals without paying royalty or tax for decades, now do not want to pay even the minimum amount. The Center and private companies had requested the court that the fee imposed by the states on minerals should be applicable from future. On this, a bench of 9 judges clarified on August 14 that the outstanding royalty and tax on mineral land will be given to the states in installments over the next 12 years from 2005. It was also clarified that no interest will be charged on the outstanding amount.

Without interest, the financial burden on public sector undertakings (PSUs) is estimated to be around Rs 70,000 crore. If the dues from private sector industries since 2005 are also included in this, then this figure increases to Rs 1.5 lakh crore. The mineral-rich states of Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan will benefit the most from this decision. The central government, while demanding future implementation of the decision of the 9-judge bench, had said that if it is fully implemented, it will cause a huge financial burden, which may ruin many PSUs and industries. Also, it will harm the country’s economy and the prices of almost all products will increase.