Bharat Gold Mines Limited - Re-Opening

Re-Opening

The decision of the Karnataka High Court was accepted by the Government of India at the highest level, viz. the Union Cabinet, in its meeting held on 27 July 2006. The Company Court was informed accordingly by the Ministry of Mines in a sworn affidavit in December 2006. The proposal of the government to hand over the mines to the employees' federation at a price to be determined through a global tender was approved by the High Court in July 2009 and confirmed in a Review petition filed by government a few months later. However, after that the picture became blurred. All movement on the revival front from the Ministry of Mines came to a halt and there was no sign of the tender. It was speculated in some circles that the rise and rise in the price of gold could be inducing government to go back on its decision to let the unions run the mines. Others saw the hidden hand still at work since no matter how high the price of gold goes the resources are too meagre to make mining operations viable enough to justify government intervention through the public exchequer. In early 2010, the Ministry of Mines suddenly decided to go in appeal to the Division Bench seeking changes in the Tender Document approved by the single bench. In February 2010, in the course of hearing before the Division Bench the advocate of the Ministry of Mines informed the Karnataka High Court that the Government has decided to revive the mines on its own. In the light of this decision the Division Bench quashed the single bench order. However, since there was no further progress in the matter even after several months the unions filed a Review Petition in which they challenged the very authenticty of the statement made on behalf of the Ministry in the court. The future of Kolar now rests with the High Court of Karnataka and the kind of commitment it can obtain from the appropriate level in government about the revival. Until then the fate of the descendants of the indentured tamilian dalits who shifted base 150 years ago to dig out gold from deep below the jungles of Kolar remains hanging in limbo.