SHILLONG, Oct 18: The High Court of Meghalaya on Tuesday directed Chief Secretary DP Wahlang and Director-General of Police LR Bishnoi to ensure that “not an ounce of illegally mined coal” is allowed to pass through the state, whether in trucks or other vehicles.
The full bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee, Justice W Diengdoh and Justice HS Thangkhiew also directed the two officials and all other police personnel to ensure strict compliance in such regard without “bowing to any political interference”.
“The Chief Secretary and the Director-General of Police will be accountable if any form of illegally mined coal is henceforth discovered in the state. The DGP will instruct all superintendents of police in the various districts to ensure that they are put on notice that if illegally mined coal in the state is found to have originated in or passed through their jurisdiction, they shall be held in contempt,” the full bench said in its order while hearing a suo motu PIL on illegal mining and transportation of coal in Meghalaya.
The court observed that a policy has been notified by the state for mining of coal on March 5, 2021 and several applications have been received but no licence has yet been issued for any mining thus far.
“Yet, rampant illegal mining of coal continues despite orders of this Court dating back, probably, to March of this year. The NGT and Supreme Court orders have been in place from 2016 or earlier. Apart from the dangerous form of rat-hole mining that is undertaken, particularly in the eastern part of the state, there are murmurs that illegally mined coal is smuggled out of the state and is returned for apparent export to a neighbouring country on the basis of fabricated documents to suggest that the coal originated in some other state,” the order said.
The court also referred to credible reports that a substantial part of the illegally mined coal in the state is transported to other states, primarily on trucks bearing Nagaland license plates and with papers showing the coal to have been mined in some other Northeastern state.
“Indeed, it may not be any coincidence that the entire stretch of the national highway in the Goalpara district of Assam between Dudhnoi and Krishnai is littered with coal dumps on either side of the road replacing agricultural fields. It is of significance that there are at least three roads between Dudhnoi and Krishnai that lead to Meghalaya, two of them to the North Garo Hills District and the third being a road via Paikan that goes to Tura,” the order said.
The full bench directed the state to ensure that the entirety of the previously mined coal is disposed of by the end of 2023. “The state and its officials should ensure that the activity is completed sooner rather than later. Coal India Limited and MSTC Ltd should also render adequate assistance and should immediately report to Justice BP Katakey in the event of any failure on the part of the state to adhere to the timelines or terms or upon any impediment being brought in the way of the early and quick disposal of the previously mined coal. Justice Katakey will continue to monitor the process on a periodic basis and all information sought should be provided to Justice Katakey by the State, Coal India Limited and MSTC,” the order said.
The state had filed a report on October 17 incorporating an earlier notification (dated October 13) issued by the Mining and Geology department indicating the revised comprehensive plan for handing over the extracted coal to Coal India Limited for auction.
Nitesh Mozika, who sought leave to intervene as advocate of the court, submitted that the commercial terms for the auction may not have been appropriately fixed. He pointed out that the earnest deposit in the first round of auction has been kept so low that successful bidders have not come to collect the quantities allotted to them.
The suggestion is that if the quantum of earnest deposit is substantially raised, serious parties will be in the fray and the process may be expedited.
Reacting to this, the full bench hoped that Justice Katakey will look into this aspect so that a process of re-auctioning and consequent delay can be avoided.
The court reiterated that the primary premise of the orders passed by the Supreme Court based on the initial orders passed by the National Green Tribunal is to completely arrest the illegal mining of coal in Meghalaya. “The other directions issued by the NGT and the Supreme Court are incidental to the principal part of the order and are to ensure the confiscation and disposal of the previously illegally mined coal. One must not miss the wood for the trees by ensuring compliance with the incidental directions for the disposal of the previously illegal mined coal without being alive to the complete prohibition of coal mining in the state otherwise than in accordance with law,” the court said.
“Let the matter appear on November 9, 2022, to ascertain both the progress made in terms of the notification dated October 13, 2022 and the measures that may have been taken by the Chief Secretary and the DGP to completely arrest all forms of illegal mining of coal in the state,” the court added.
