SHILLONG, March 20: It is almost a year since the case of Gasuapara coal origin was opened after a local exporter, Champer Sangma, filed a writ petition in the High Court on July 19, 2022, questioning the origin of the coal in Gasuapara, and the source is yet to be revealed.
The High Court, in an order on Monday, granted time to Jaimaa Coal Pvt. Ltd, Guwahati (respondent no. 14), which it sought from the court on “personal grounds” after it was queried by the court as to the source of the quantum of coal indicated in the letter dated April 18/25, 2022.
Though the matter was adjourned from time to time for all documents and pleadings being completed, including by the respondent no. 14, since the adjournment is sought on the personal ground of counsel, the prayer is acceded to, the court said in its order.
The court, however, said that “there is no doubt that the respondent No.14 has appended copies of relevant documents to its pleadings indicating the source of the 52,600 MT of coal referred to in the letter of April 18/25, 2022.”
The matter is scheduled to appear on March 22 again.
At the outset of the hearing on Monday, the petitioner pointed out that the object of the present PIL is to establish the manner in which certain parties are continuing to indulge in the illegal mining and illegal transportation of coal with the tacit approval of the State.
The petitioner referred to a letter dated April 11, 2022, by which the 14th respondent, Jaimaa Coal Pvt. Ltd., Guwahati, sought permission from the Deputy Commissioner of South Garo Hills to export the coal available with the respondent at Gasuapara to Bangladesh. Jaimaa Coal followed it up with a further letter of April 18/25, 2022 wherein it was, inter alia, indicated as that the company had a deposit of approximately 52,600 MT of coal at Gasuapara and that approximately 5,060 trips by vehicles would be required to complete the export of such deposit.
The petitioner claimed that for Jaimaa Coal to have obtained such a huge quantity of coal, there must have been one or more sources.
The petitioner also points out that the source could not have been Meghalaya since, pursuant to orders passed by the National Green Tribunal and the Supreme Court, there is a complete ban in place since or about 2016 on mining coal in the state and, as of now, no licence has been issued for scientific mining of coal.
Further, the previous illegally extracted coal is in the custody of the state and the auction thereof is being monitored in accordance with a schedule that is overseen by the High Court of Meghalaya.
The 52,600 MT of coal referred to in the letter dated April 18/25, 2022 by Jaimaa Coal could not have been any part of the previous illegally extracted coal as the company had not obtained any coal from any auction, at least till such date, the court order stated.
In view of the nature of the mineral, any person in possession of such vast quantity of coal would obviously have papers to indicate the source or sources thereof as coal is a regulated mineral.
It is pertinent to note that the High Court of Meghalaya had earlier sought answers from the state government on the origin of the coal being exported through the Gasuapara land custom station in South Garo Hills.
The court’s order had come on July 19, 2022, during a hearing on a PIL filed by Champer M Sangma, a local exporter from Gasuapara, questioning the validity of the e-way bills while also questioning the origin of the coal in Gasuapara.
“This is a matter of some concern that has been brought to the notice of this court by way of the present public interest litigation. According to the petitioner, documents may have been manufactured, inter alia, by the state government for transportation of coal allegedly brought from Assam and originally meant for export to Bangladesh,” the court had observed.
The court noted that respondents 1 (state of Meghalaya), 2 (DGP), 5 (Principal Secretary of Transport department), 12 (officer in charge, Transport department of North Garo Hills) and 13 (Coal Controller, Ministry of Coal) were represented in the court but felt that a copy seeking explanations should also be served to respondent 14 (Jaimaa Coal Pvt. Limited, Guwahati). The court also directed that a copy of the petition be forwarded to the state of Assam.
However, on August 4, 2022, the state government submitted a wishy-washy statement in the High Court.
After receiving a copy of the preliminary report prepared by the government, the petitioner (Champer Sangma) insinuated that the particulars indicated in it are “demonstrably false”.
The court told the petitioner to refer to such content in the report to substantiate the insinuation.
The state, on the other hand, informed the court that the preliminary report has been filed within a short time pursuant to the directions issued on July 19, 2022. It said that the state wishes to use a more detailed affidavit enclosing the documents that would belie the petitioner’s claim.
