However, NGT has not lifted stay on 61 mining leases where state environment impact assessment authority (SEIAA) had already imposed prohibition on mining of sand during monsoon period of July 1 to October 31, as a condition of their environmental clearance (EC).

NGT also asked ministry of environment and forest (MoEF) to come up with a comprehensive policy on sand mining in rivers of Central and North India within a month's time. Bench comprised judicial members Justice U D Salvi, Justice M S Nambiar and expert members D K Agarwal, Bikram Singh Sajwan and Ranjan Chatterjee.

Counsel for applicant Dharmveer Sharma told TOI, he and applicant Amarkant Mishra personally appeared before the bench on Friday, to disapprove state's previous submission that Mishra's house was non-existent.

State government had previously moved several applications before NGT Bhopal to get the stay on sand mining vacated. Also, sand trucks owners association and CREDAI had sought relief from the stay.

Thereafter, recently, counsel for state moved an application along with NGT principal bench's order of September 23 in matter of Virendra Kumar v/s MoEF, contending that in the said order, a larger, four-member bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar directed Union environment ministry not to grant environmental clearance for sand mining in the rivers of north India till only September 1 each year.

NGT central zonal bench comprising judicial member Justice Dalip Singh and expert member Bikram Singh Sajwan had earlier ordered the matter would be placed before the larger bench at NGT, New Delhi. The decision was taken so that Bhopal bench's orders were not contradictory to that of principal bench. The matter thereafter was transferred to principal bench on September 30.