Mines Minister Obert Mpofu is set to face court action for allowing the sale of diamonds mined at the controversial Chiadzwa diamond fields, despite a Supreme Court order barring the stones from being sold.

The title holder of the Chiadzwa claim, African Consolidated Resources (ACR), has lodged legal papers against Mpofu for violating the Supreme Court order. The order was handed down earlier this year as part of the ownership wrangle between ACR and the government approved firms mining the site.

The government owned Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) has joined forces with Mbada Mining and Canadile Mining, who were licensed to mine the Chiadzwa site after it was seized in 2006 from the UK based ACR. Since the first High Court ruling in their favour in 2009, ACR has been embroiled in a legal battle over ownership of the site.

The ZMDC and Mines Minister Mpofu then appealed this High Court decision and the Supreme Court subsequently ordered all mining operations be suspended until the issue was finalised. Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku ruled that despite the ZMDC being in physical control of the claims, "they must cease all mining activities and it is so ordered."

"Allowing applicants (ZMDC) to continue mining, pending appeal, has the potential of causing irreparable damage to the respondents (ACR) should the appeal fail," the Chief Justice ruled.

But mining has continued regardless, and last month a multi million dollar auction of the stones was launched in Harare. ACR now wants Mpofu to face High Court action for allowing the sales. ACR also wants the High Court to throw out the appeal made by Mpofu, over Chiadzwa's legal ownership.

"As a government minister he has a legal and moral duty to see to it that orders of (the High Court) and of the Supreme Court are obeyed and see to it that the integrity of (the courts) is protected, by not openly and publicly acting in defiance of a court order," reads part of the heads of arguments filed by ACR's legal team.