The Meghalaya High Court has pulled up Chief Secretary Rebecca V. Suchiang for not mentioning in her report about any action taken against local government officials, who not only looked the other way while the illegal coal mining thrived, but also may have actively aided in such illegal mining.
The full bench of the High Court comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee, Justice Hamarsan S. Thangkhiew and Justice Wanlura Diengdoh today perused the report dated April 1, 2022 filed by the Chief Secretary regarding illegal coal mining in the State.
However, the court said that details have not been indicated in the report. Advocate General Amit Kumar said that the details are too voluminous to be conveniently included in an affidavit.
Citing instances, Kumar told the High Court that more than 3500 trucks have been seized in terms of the NGT order of January 5, 2019 and it may not be possible to indicate the particulars pertaining to each of the seizures.
“There appears to be some action taken, though it is not clear from the report as to whether all the directions in such regard issued by the Supreme Court and the NGT have been complied with,” the High Court observed.
“At any rate, it is obvious that the time-frame within which the previous illegally mined coal had been required to be disposed of under the aegis of Coal India Limited, has not been adhered to. It is this which has primarily fuelled the illegal mining with the subsequently illegally mined coal being attempted to be passed off as the previously mined coal. This could not have happened without the active connivance of the local administration,” the court added.
The High Court also said that Chief Secretary’s report is “singularly lacking in indicating what measures may have been taken against the local officials, who not only looked the other way while the illegal mining thrived, but may have actively aided therein”.
“There has to be accountability and this aspect of the matter has to be immediately focused so that a message is sent loud and clear that the watchdogs would be proceeded against if anything remiss is found under their watch,” the court said.
Stating that the object of the present exercise is not to inquire afresh into the matters which have been covered by orders passed by the Supreme Court and the NGT in the past, the High Court said that the present exercise is limited to ensuring that all the directions issued by the Supreme Court and the NGT in such regard are followed and implemented “since, the failure on the part of the administration to abide by such directions may not have been brought to the notice of the Supreme Court or the NGT”.
The High Court also said that it may set up a committee on the lines as formed by the NGT earlier, as some of the members of the previous committee already have the experience of dealing with the matter and may be able to ensure better compliance with the directions or more easily detect the failures on the part of the administration in such regard.
“For such purpose, let the matter appear a fortnight hence. In the meantime, the State should make every endeavour to comply with the outstanding directions and get a grip over the entire process of mining in the State, if only to ensure that there is no further degradation of the environment and, upon conducting appropriate environmental impact assessment studies, promote mining in accordance with law to augment State revenue and provide for employment opportunities,” the High Court said while listing the matter for hearing on April 19.
