Shillong, Aug 1: The Meghalaya High Court has asked the Chief Secretary of the State to ensure that Amrit Cements Ltd does not indulge in illegal mining of limestone.
In an order passed today, the division bench of Chief Justice Indra Prasanna Mukerji and Justice Wanlura Diengdoh also directed the Chief Secretary to keep a vigil and ensure that the mining license issued in 2023 to Amrit Cements Ltd was not used for illegal mining of limestone in Jaiñtia Hills.
“Furthermore, every three months the Chief Secretary or any competent officer authorised by him will issue a communication after due enquiry to be published in the website of the government that Amrit Cement continues or does not continue to mine limestone in accordance with the licence, for the information of any public-spirited person who may be interested in ensuring that there is no illegal mining of minerals in the State,” the court said.
Earlier, Advocate General Amit Kumar told the court that prior to obtaining licence in 2023, the Company purchased limestone from private vendors in the State which was “perfectly lawful.”
In his submission he said that the issue of whether sale by individual miners of the state to purchasers in Bangladesh is before the Supreme Court. He said international sale of limestone by private vendors having mineral licence was a different matter and that there has been no order from the apex court interfering with private sale of limestone by the Supreme Court up to date.
The writ petitioner was “acting for a vested interest of a rival entrepreneur or industrialist” doing the same kind of business as the Company and “interested in closing the business of the latter,” Kumar told the court.
He also maintained that the petitioner has from 2023 a valid licence to mine limestone and that the Company had “not indulged in any illegal mining at any point of time before or after obtaining the licence.”
The court also took note of the submission made by Senior Advocate DK Banerjee, who appeared for the Company, who stated that mining activity in terms of the licence has not yet been commenced but is likely to start soon.
