Samruddhi expressway contractor to pay a fine of Rs 328 crore

Aurangabad, Sept 9:

Justice Mangesh Patil on Wednesday dismissed three separate petitions filed by Samruddhi expressway contractor Ms Monte Carlo Ltd in the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court against the Rs 328 crore fine imposed by the Jalna Tehsildar for illegal extraction of minor minerals. The bench also rejected the company's request to uphold the interim stay granted by the bench in this regard till it files an appeal in the Supreme Court. As a result, the company will have to pay a penalty of Rs 328 crore.

The company has been awarded the contract for construction of Samruddhi expressway between Jalna and Aurangabad. The company was found to have illegally mined, used, transported and stored minor minerals. Former MLA of Badnapur Santosh Sambre had lodged a complaint with the district collector of Jalna alleging that a large amount of government revenue was lost due to illegal extraction. The district collector had set up a committee to investigate the matter. The committee found that the company had illegally extracted minor minerals in Jalna and Badnapur tehsils. Tehsildars had imposed a total fine of Rs 328 crore on the company in three phases. The bench had earlier granted interim stay on recovery of the fine.

Intervention application in court

Former MLA Sambre through adv Vishnu Madan Patil, adv Amarjeetsingh Girase and adv Lalit Mahajan had filed an intervention application in the court. He pointed out to the bench that the company should have filed an appeal with the district collector under section 247 of the Maharashtra Land Revenue Act against the order of the Tehsildar. But the company has filed a petition in the high court without appealing to the district collector. Therefore, the petition should be rejected, he requested. At the end of the hearing, the bench passed the above order. Additional public prosecutor Siddharth Yavalkar represented the government.