On Wednesday, the Supreme Court denied the Centre's request to apply its July 25 ruling prospectively. This ruling affirmed the authority of states to tax mineral rights and mineral-bearing land, and it also permitted states to claim a refund of royalties dating back to April 1, 2005.

A nine-judge Constitution bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud has rejected the Centre's plea for prospective effect of its July 25 ruling, which affirmed the power of states to levy taxes on mineral rights and mineral-bearing land.

The bench, which included Justices Hrishikesh Roy, Abhay S Oka, BV Nagarathna, JB Pardiwala, Manoj Misra, Ujjal Bhuyan, Satish Chandra Sharma, and Augustine George Masih, stated that while past dues can be paid by the Centre and mining companies to mineral-rich states in a staggered manner over the next 12 years, states are prohibited from imposing any penalties on these payments.

The Centre had argued that refunding royalties collected since 1989 would significantly impact citizens and force public sector undertakings to pay approximately Rs 70,000 crore, according to initial estimates.

Chief Justice Chandrachud noted that the July 25 verdict, which was supported by eight of the nine judges, grants states the power to tax mineral rights and overturns a 1989 judgment that had granted this authority exclusively to the Centre. Justice Nagarathna, who had dissenting views in the July 25 verdict, will not be signing Wednesday's ruling. The issue of refunds, initially discussed on July 31, remains subject to these new conditions.