Congress-ruled states to move Supreme Court against mining law

While Karnataka, Telangana and Himachal Pradesh are already on board, Congress is in talks with its ally Jharkhand Mukti Morcha to get the Jharkhand government, too, to challenge the amendment Act in the top court.

2 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Aug 21, 2026 03:15 AM IST

The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, passed by the Parliament on August 13 seeks to restrict the State’s powers to levy taxes on mineral rights and mineral-bearing lands. (PTI)

State governments where the Congress is in power are likely to challenge the recently passed Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2026, in the Supreme Court, the party said, alleging that the law undermines the States’ rights.

While Karnataka, Telangana and Himachal Pradesh are already on board, Congress is in talks with its ally Jharkhand Mukti Morcha to get the Jharkhand government, too, to challenge the amendment Act in the top court.

However, Mines Minister G Kishan Reddy, in his statement in the Rajya Sabha, had clarified that the legislation does not seek to interfere with the autonomy or revenue rights of States, but only aims to ensure uniform mineral rates across the country.

Reddy further said that the Centre was seeking to only regulate major minerals such as coal, limestone, iron ore, copper and manganese, and that the States would continue to have powers over 49 minor minerals.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara on Tuesday urged the Centre to withdraw the amendment Act, objecting to its restrictive provisions. He wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Reddy on the issue.

In Kerala, where the Congress recently came to power, Chief Minister V D Satheesan said the amendments to the Act are against federal principles and therefore, it will be strongly opposed.

Asad Rehman

Asad Rehman is with the national bureau of The Indian Express and covers politics and policy focusing on religious minorities in India. A journalist for over eight years, Rehman moved to this role after covering Uttar Pradesh for five years for The Indian Express. During his time in Uttar Pradesh, he covered politics, crime, health, and human rights among other issues. He did extensive ground reports and covered the protests against the new citizenship law during which many were killed in the state. During the Covid pandemic, he did extensive ground reporting on the migration of workers from the metropolitan cities to villages in Uttar Pradesh. He has also covered some landmark litigations, including the Babri Masjid-Ram temple case and the ongoing Gyanvapi-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute. Prior to that, he worked on The Indian Express national desk for three years where he was a copy editor. Rehman studied at La Martiniere, Lucknow and then went on to do a bachelor's degree in History from Ramjas College, Delhi University. He also has a Masters degree from the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia. ... Read More

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