Should states also tax minerals or is it only the Centre's right? SC reserves verdict
Over the course of eight days, a nine-judge bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud heard the case while also considering 86 appeals that various state governments, mining companies, and public sector organisations had filed
prativad 
The highly controversial question of whether the royalty payable on minerals is a tax under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, and whether the states or only the central government is authorised to levy such an exaction, was postponed by the Supreme Court Thursday.
Over the course of eight days, a nine-judge bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud heard the case while also considering 86 appeals that various state governments, mining companies, and public sector organisations had filed.
The bench, also comprising Justices Hrishikesh Roy, Abhay S Oka, BV Nagarathna, JB Pardiwala, Manoj Misra, Ujjal Bhuyan, Satish Chandra Sharma and Augustine George Masih, heard the arguments of various parties including the Centre.
During the hearing, the top court had said the Constitution vests the power to impose tax on mineral rights not in Parliament alone but also the states and underlined that such authority should not be diluted.
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