New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday requested the Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court to constitute a dedicated bench to dispose of cases pertaining to the recovery of illegal mining dues. The apex court said High Court should take an effort to dispose of these cases by March 3, 2026.
According to the reports, the matter came up when a two-judge bench, comprising Justices Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih, highlighted the numerous petitions challenging recovery proceedings. It was also n
oted that multiple stays had been granted by the High Court, leading to delays. “Since public revenue to a substantial extent is involved, we grant liberty to the state of Odisha to move an application before the chief justice of the Orissa High Court by December 19, 2025, with a request to assign all such petitions to a dedicated bench for final disposal within March 31, 2026,” the bench said, as quoted by PTI.
The SC has instructed the state to file a status report by April 2026. Within the deadline, either the main matters can be disposed of early or alterations of interim orders can be done.
In 2017, a Supreme Court verdict had called for compensation recovery from lessees who engaged in unauthorized mining activities.
According to the latest status report filed by Odisha govt on October 29 the recovery of more than Rs 2,700 crore remained pending.
(With inputs from PTI and Live Law)