SHILLONG, June 27: Seeking to go all out against the nefarious coal trade in Meghalaya, the High Court of Meghalaya on Tuesday extended the brief of Justice (retd) Brojendra Prasad Katakey, granting him full authority to inquire into the persons behind the illegal operations of mining and transportation of coal and the illegal operation of coke plants, including the receipt of illegally-mined coal at such plants.
The full bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justices HS Thangkhiew and Wanlura Diengdoh also requested Justice Katakey to look into “acts of omission and commission by persons in the administration, particularly police officials, including, possibly, the officer-in-charge of Shallang”.
Earlier, the petitioner in the case (Monu Kumar) submitted that there are several coke oven plants which are being allowed to function, particularly in the West Khasi Hills District, without any license or permission.
The court said that several other aspects need to be looked into. “Since the petitioner has instituted the present proceedings pertaining to the illegally-mined coal reaching coke oven and similar plants which are being operated illegally, the petitioner may ascertain the role of some of the police officials, particularly in Shallang and whether trucks carrying the illegally-mined coal are being led into illegal coke oven plants against illegal gratification.”
In particular, the petitioner will seek to discover the “key players” behind the operations, the order said.
On the other hand, the state government submitted that this matter should appear when another matter pertaining to illegal transportation of coal is due to appear next week before the full bench.
“The state’s consistent practice has been to ward off these matters and hope for something better. However, when it comes to cracking down on illegal operations, very little appears to have been done,” the court said.
“Since in the suo-motu proceedings for the implementation of the orders passed by the NGT as affirmed by the Supreme Court, Justice Katakey has already been appointed to ensure the sale of the previously-mined coal and the implementation of the orders, his brief may be extended for him to inquire into the persons behind the illegal operations of mining and transportation of coal and the illegal operation of coke plants, including the receipt of illegally-mined coal at such plants,” the order said.
The court will now hear the matter on July 3, immediately after hearing a co-related case pertaining to illegal transportation of coal.
