State’s Refusal to Grant Environmental Clearance for Stone Mining in Saranda Forest Upheld: Jharkhand High Court

The Jharkhand High Court has upheld the decision of the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) to deny Environmental Clearance (EC) for stone mining in the Saranda Forest, which falls within a designated no-mining zone. The Division Bench comprising Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Justice Arun Kumar Rai ruled that the Management Plan for Sustainable Mining (MPSM), 2018 applied to the entire forest area, irrespective of the type of mineral…