Cabinet extends Justice Shah Commission term by another year

New Delhi, July 20 (ANI): The Union Cabinet has approved the extension of the tenure of the Justice M.B. Shah Commission of Inquiry till July 16, 2013.

The commission is inquiring into cases of illegal mining.

"The extension has been sought since the commission is collecting and compiling information on mining from seven important mineral producing states, which is quite voluminous," an official statement said today.

An additional expenditure of Rs.50 lakh will be incurred towards the extension of tenure of Justice M.B. Shah Commission of Inquiry.

The commission was set up to identify cases of illegal mining, and also to identify and rectify management, regulatory and monitoring system failures in curbing illegal mining.

The commission will cover the states of Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Goa and Madhya Pradesh.

Taking into account the serious concerns of Government on several reports of large scale illegal mining and failure of State Governments to effectively curb this menace, Government set up Justice M.B.Shah Commission of Inquiry on November 22, 2011.

The commission is based in Ahmedabad. It was required to submit its report by July 16, 2012. (ANI)