Jammu Tawi, March 20 -- The Centre on Thursday told the Supreme Court that it was making efforts to resolve the issue of recovery of royalty and tax dues on mineral rights and mineral-bearing lands between it and several mineral-rich states.

The top court meanwhile deferred to April 24 the hearing on subsequent pleas of several mineral-rich states like Jharkhand seeking to recover royalty and tax dues on mineral rights and mineral-bearing lands worth thousands of crore of rupees from the Centre and the mining firms.

A special three-judge bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and MM Sundresh and Ujjal Bhuyan said it will decide on the sequence in which the pleas of several mineral-rich states would be heard.

Solicitor General Tushar Me...