States » EastPosted at: Sep 28 2026 7:24PM


MMDR-26 Amendment Bill will not withstand Supreme Court scrutiny: Narasingha Mishra

Bhubaneswar, Sep 28 (UNI) Former Odisha Law Minister and senior Congress leader Narasingha Mishra on Monday asserted that the MMDR-26 Amendment Bill would be struck down by the Supreme Court, citing earlier judicial rulings on the state’s power to levy taxes on mineral-bearing land.
Addressing a press conference at Congress Bhawan here, Mishra said the Odisha Cess Act was enacted during the tenure of former Chief Minister Janaki Ballabh Patnaik but was subsequently struck down by the Supreme Court on the ground that the state government lacked the authority to enact such legislation.
Mishra recalled that during the tenure of former Chief Minister Biju Patnaik, when he was the Law Minister, he had been entrusted with drafting a Bill called the Tax on Mineral-Bearing Land Bill.
Under the proposed legislation, the state government was to have authority over land containing mineral deposits and levy tax on land beneath which minerals were found.
He said the state government had approached the Supreme Court in connection with the issue but lost the case. Subsequently, on January 15, 2004, the Supreme Court held that the state government had rights over the land, Mishra said.
The Congress leader said Odisha was expected to secure the right to levy such a tax, but the state did not exercise it. He said the Supreme Court had now held that if the law was implemented, Odisha could benefit by around Rs 12,000 crore annually.
Mishra said another judgment subsequently held that the government could impose tax on mineral-bearing land, with the amount to be calculated from the date on which the claim was made and paid by the Centre to the states.
He said the Centre had told the Supreme Court that payment of such a huge amount in one go would create financial difficulties and that it would not be possible to make the entire payment at once.
The Central government, therefore, sought permission from the Supreme Court to make the payment in instalments, which the court accepted, Mishra said.
He said the state government was thereafter required to claim the tax dues from the Centre, while the Centre was required to make the payment.
However, neither did the state government raise the claim nor did the Centre make the payment, resulting in a huge financial loss to Odisha, Mishra alleged.
Mishra maintained that in view of the earlier judicial pronouncements, there was no doubt that the MMDR-26 Amendment Bill would be struck down by the Supreme Court.
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