Can collect tax on mineral land after SC reinstates ORISED Act
Bhubaneswar: Despite the Supreme Court’s Aug 14 order allowing states to collect tax on mineral-bearing land with retrospective effect from Apr 1, 2005, Odisha will have to wait as a petition seeking to reinstate the Orissa Rural Infrastructure and Socio-Economic Development Act (ORISED) Act, 2004, is pending in the apex court, steel and mines minister Bibhuti Bhusan Jena informed the assembly in a written reply on Thursday.
On Jul 25, the Supreme Court had ruled that states possess the authority to impose taxes on mineral-bearing land. In a subsequent ruling on Aug 14, the apex court clarified that such taxes could be collected retrospectively, effective from Apr 1, 2005.
The Orissa high court had struck down the ORISED Act, 2004, and ORISED Rules, 2005, on Dec 5, 2005, following which the state govt had filed a civil appeal in Supreme Court in 2006. For Odisha to start collecting tax on mineral-bearing land using ORISED Act, the SC has to reinstate it, striking down the HC order.
