Aishwarya Rathore-
Published On: September 24, 2021 at 16:43 IST
The Supreme Court asked the Centre to file its response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) alleging that Private firms exported Iron ore in pellet form while evading Export duty.
A Bench of CJI NV Ramana, Surya Kant, and Hima Kohli took note of the plea of the NGO ‘Common Cause’ and directed the Centre to respond within four weeks.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the NGO, referred to the Supreme Court Judgment on Mining and Iron export, claiming that a Parliamentary Committee has stated that Iron ore export should not be permitted at the cost of Domestic Companies.
Mr. Bhushan asserted that a 30% export duty has been imposed to discourage the export of Iron ore, and that the ore has been exported in pellet form without paying the duty.
Further, the Court rejected the objection of Advocate M. L. Sharma, who had filed a PIL on a similar issue, as a caveator that the NGO represented by Mr. Bhushan had “stolen” the content of his plea and should not be entertained.
The Bench stated, “Your (Sharma) Petition is already there. Notice has been issued on that. Does it stop Bhushan from filing another case? We are allowing his petition and it does not mean that we are disallowing your plea.”
In January, 2021, the Supreme Court issued a Notice to the Centre and 61 Iron-Exporting firms on Mr. Sharma’s PIL, seeking a direction to the CBI to register a FIR and investigate the alleged duty evasion by them in exporting iron ore to China since 2015.
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