8125/2018 Const. P. Pakistan Minerals Developement Corporation (Petitioner) V/S Province of Sindh & Others (Respondent)
Sindh High Court
Bench: Hon'ble Mr. Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Hon'ble Mr. Justice Adnan Iqbal Chaudhry(Author)
Order Date: 22-MAY-19
Petitioner, Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation (Pvt.) Ltd administrative control of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources. In respect of an area of 3818.81 acres at Lakhra, District Jamshoro, for which a mining-lease was granted to the Petitioner for mining coal for a period of thirty[30] years. These renewal applications remained pending with the Respondent No.2, and though in the meantime both the mining-leases of the Petitioner expired in April 2015, the date of such expiry stood extended .Respondent No.2 had granted mining-permits to SLCMC without waiting for a decision on the Petitioners appeals pending under Rule 71 of the SMC Rules. Mr. Jawad Dero, the learned AAG Sindh, and Mr. Jaffar Raza, learned counsel for SLCMC had objected to the maintainability of these fresh petitions on the ground that the Hyderabad Petitions for the same relief were still pending. we agree with Barrister Zameer Ghumro that these petitions cannot be held to be not-maintainable merely on the ground that the Hyderabad Petitions are also pending. Appellate Authority manifests that the refusal to renew the Petitioner mining-leases was only for the reason that the Petitioner was Federal Government entity and the Government of Sindh had already made up its mind to award a mining concession in the same area to the SLCMC, a company wholly owned by the Government of Sindh. Having found no reason to interfere in the discretion exercised by the Respondent No.2 The petitions succeed for prayer clause 3 in terms that the impugned Notifications dated 09-07-2018 granting mining permits to SLCMC (Respondent No.3) having been granted in contravention of Rule 68 of the SMC Rules, the same are without lawful authority and are therefore set-aside judgment shall be dispatched by the office to o be placed in C.P. No. D-7643/2018 pending before this Court at Karachi The petitions stand disposed off.Full judgment text for this case is not yet available on Pakistan Law Reports. Check the official Sindh High Court case law portal for the complete order.
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