Shillong, Sep 4: The government in connivance with the police are using various tactics to make prosecution of illegal coal cases impossible, Leader of the Opposition Dr Mukul Sangma has claimed.
Speaking to reporters yesterday, Dr Sangma said that, instead of cases related to illegal coal – whether mining or transportation – being prosecuted in isolation, the government clubs them together, which makes the cases overly time consuming and complicated. In the end the police tell the courts that there is no substantive evidence to proceed further.
“Everyone knows. Even the report of the committee (led by retired Justice BP Katakey) is reflective that these things are happening,” Dr Sangma said.
He added that, due to this, illegal coal mining and transportation is happening in perpetuity.
Dr Sangma, who was Chief Minister until early 2018, also questioned how the government arrived at a new figure for already extracted coal after it came to power.
Up to when he was CM, the Meghalaya government put forth a figure of 2 lakh tonnes of coal was lying at various sites that had been extracted prior to the ban on rat-hole mining coming into force in 2014.
However, the new government changed this figure to 32 lakh tonnes. If inflated, this higher figure would have allowed for newly-mined coal to be claimed as old stock.
