Jaipur: The Rajasthan High Court on Friday refused to lift ban on the acquisition of land in five villages for mining purposes by a Jindal group company.
A Division bench of Chief Justice Amitava Roy and Justice VS Siradhana refused to lift the ban imposed by a single judge bench in October last year while hearing a plea by Jindal group.
The single-judge bench had imposed a ban on the acquisition proceedings of land in five villages by Jindal SAW Limited (JSL) while hearing a PIL by Bhilwara Press Society, a club of local journalists, alleging a scam to the tune of Rs 3.4 lakh crore.
JSL, a part of the USD 18 billion OP Jindal Group, was alloted a mining lease of 20 square kilometre area in year 2010 and 2011 on the periphery of Bhilwara district for mining of ores of gold, iron and silver.
Meanwhile, since a batch of petitions were filed by villagers whose land was to be acquired, the Division bench directed the PIL to be heard by single judge bench, which had stayed the acquisition proceedings after obtaining a report from Geological Survey of India and reply by Union of India.
