New Delhi: The harried coal miners of Meghalaya were in for a double dilemma with the Supreme Court on Monday refusing to hear their plea since the matter was pending with the National Green Tribunal while the Tribunal did not take up their case since the matter was pending in the apex court.
Ultimately the Supreme Court dismissed the petition to stop ban on coal mining in Meghalaya while the NGT shifted the date of hearing on June 2 in Shillong.
With this the miners now are a vertically divided house since some of them went to the NGT while others to the apex court.
The application was called early in the morning. The Tribunal, however, refused to hear the said applications on the ground that some people had filed a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court.
When the matter was heard by the Supreme Court, it did not vacate the stay on mining. Since the NGT, had observed earlier in the morning that the application filed with the Tribunal would be heard on June 2, the apex court also has permitted the petitioners to approach the National Green Tribunal and file similar applications for modifications and/or vacation of the ban on mining.