SC: STATES HAVE POWER TO LEVY TAX ON MINES

The 8:1 majority judgement also held that royalty not tax

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A nine-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday held that states have the constitutional authority to levy taxes on mines and mineral-bearing lands.

The 8:1 majority judgement, authored by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and agreed to by Justices Hrishikesh Roy, Abhay S Oka, JB Pardiwala, Manoj Misra, Ujjal Bhuyan, Satish Chandra Sharma and Augustine George Masih, also ruled that royalty payable on extracted minerals is not a tax.

CJI Chandrachud, along with seven other judges, delivered a majority judgment, while Justice BV Nagarathna delivered a dissenting judgement.