Each time a coal truck turns turtle the State Government and its administrative functionaries, particularly the police become the laughing stock. The public is well aware that coal mining carries on unabated. The only people who pretend to be in the dark about this illegal trade are those in the government. That’s because they are helpless and are not in a position to stop the mining and transportation of coal because it is carried on by the High Level who have been elected to the Assembly and are now well-placed ministers or by their cohorts. This is a well-oiled business and coal mine owning sharks are in no mood to listen to any authority – not even the judiciary. This is the stark reality. In fact, it is rather embarrassing that the Chief Secretary has to be called to answer for what is seen by the Meghalaya High Court to be an administrative lapse. This is unfortunate because the hands of the bureaucracy are tied. There is little they can do when the people involved in the illegalities are their political bosses. Considering that the coal carrying trucks have their owners and some FIRs have been filed against a few, the question is why the owners of these trucks are not called to answer before the court as to who owns the coal that is being transported. Isn’t that a better way of identifying the mine owners who have cocked a snook at the NGT, the Supreme Court and the Meghalaya High Court orders? The fact of the matter is that the rule of law does not operate in Meghalaya. Those at the top rungs of the political ladder may not be saying it in so many words but what they are doing implies that, “it’s my way or the highway,” attitude that is prevailing in Meghalaya. Even the High Court appears to have hit a stone wall with the CISF stating in no uncertain terms that it would be unable to send its force to check illegal mining.
The very fact that the Meghalaya High Court should express the imperative to bring in the CISF to put a complete halt to illegal coal mining, is a strong indictment of the State Police Force and its inaction. Why have a police force that cannot enforce the rule of law? And the illegality perpetrated by people in elite political circles sends a message to the citizenry that the law is only for the weak and those with no political clout. It’s a dangerous message as it can provoke retaliation against an unjust system where the affluent get away with all manner of crime, simply because they are close to the political who’s who or because the coal mines belong to the families of the elected elite. If there is a law it must apply to all without discrimination.
