GUWAHATI, India, April 7 -- Gauhati High Court issued the following order on March 5:

1. Heard Mr. B.D. Deka, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. D. Gogoi, learned Standing Counsel, Forest & Environment Department for the respondent nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 8.

2. A competitive bidding process was initiated under Rules 32, 33 and 34 of the Assam Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 2013 ['the Rules, 2013' or 'the 2013 Rules', for short] for a mineral concession area, Tokrabandha Hill Stone Quarry ['the Mineral Concession Area', for short] by an e-Auction Notice dated 11.11.2021. Bids were invited online from eligible bidders for settlement of the Mining Concession Area for a stipulated quantity of 5,00,000 cubic meters of stone for a contract/permit period of five years at a reserved price of Rs. 10 Crores.

3. In response to the e-Auction notice, the petitioner and the others submitted their bids. The live auction conducted for settlement was culminated on 23.12.2021 and the petitioner emerged as the highest bidder with his offered bid amount of Rs. 30,27,77,719/-. Accordingly, a provisional Letter of Intent [LoI] was directed to be issued by the respondent no. 5 on 09.03.2022. Consequently, a provisional LoI was issued to the petitioner by the respondent no. 8 on 31.03.2022 with a condition that the petitioner had to prepare and submit/obtain [i] an approved mining plan; [ii] Clearance under Forest [Conservation] Act, 1980; [iii] environment clearance as per EIA Notification, 2006; and [iv] Environment Management Plan; within a period of 45 days from the date of issuance of the provisional LoI dated 31.03.2022. Communications were exchanged thereafter among the authorities in the subsequent period.

4. On 11.07.2022, the petitioner was asked to submit the requisite clearance/plan etc. within a period of 180 days, that is, before 30.09.2022 or else, the offer would be revoked. On 13.07.2022, the petitioner represented before the respondent no. 8 that it was only in April, 2022, some of the formalities were completed and the remaining formalities were required to be completed by the statutory authorities. On 14.07.2022, the respondent no. 7 granted approval to the Mining Plan. The respondent no. 8 wrote on 16.11.2022 recommending grant of Environmental Clearance in favour of the petitioner in respect of the Mineral Concession Area.

5. When the process for Environmental Clearance was under consideration, the respondent no. 5 on 21.01.2023 wrote to the respondent no. 8 stating that he was directed to revoke the provisional LoI issued to the petitioner under Rule 37 [3] [iii] & [v] and Rule 22 [1] & [2] of the 2013 Rules and to forfeit the initial bid security deposited by the petitioner and to initiate action for recovery of the unpaid balance of 15% of the bid security.

*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/ecourtindiaHC/cases/display_pdf.php?filename=I1mmm2bl4r4EREhYK63KvyLymJxM8yaSqtoRnoHDe0s2UHbEqiFZvOE69Ang3YIp&caseno=WP(C)/1268/2026&cCode=1&cino=GAHC010043992026&state_code=6&appFlag=)

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