New Delhi, Feb 7: The Supreme Court on Wednesday quashed a total of 88 iron ore mining licenses granted to firms in Goa, which were in violation to the environmental norms. The bench headed by Chief Justice of India Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Madan B Lokur has asked the state government to ensure the mining operations are winded up by March 15.

The plea seeking the cancellation of mining licenses was filed by an NGO Goa Foundation. Apart from contending to the petitioner's demand seeking the quashing of the mining permits, it also directed the constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to calculate the amount to be recovered from companies which operated using the illegally acquired licenses.

The apex court, in 2012, had cancelled the licenses of scores of iron-ore mining companies in Goa for alleged violation of norms. The state government, however, in 2015 awarded the licenses again to the tainted companies for 20 years.

In order to nullify the court's order, the state had reportedly sanctioned the licenses in retrospective effect from 2007.

To avert foul play this time, the court has tasked the Centre to conduct fresh auctions for Goa's mine and grant licenses as per the Union Environment Ministry's norms.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 07, 2018 12:03 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).