The Meghalaya High Court is presently the only institution providing light at the end of the dark tunnel that is the State of Meghalaya. The judicious and deft handling of the illegal coal mining and transportation saga that has been carrying on in the state for the last 9 years since the NGT ban on coal mining in April 2014 gives hope that those with a propensity to treat the law as dispensable rubbish will ultimately be hauled up and face the consequences of their actions. While police officials at the districts must be held accountable for closing their eyes to the daylight crime, this entire gamut of illegal mining, transportation and re-transportation in the form of coal brought from outside the state is a well-oiled machinery involving many other departments such as Mining and Geology, Transport, Police and the district administrations as well. The verbal orders for this coal business which funds the state elections in the same way that drug money funds elections in Manipur all come from the top rungs of the government. Hence if punishment for these gross illegalities is to be meted out then the lower rung officials alone cannot be held guilty. A police official in Ri Bhoi District who decided to carry out his duties and check the illegal transportation of coal paid with his life. The case is still hanging fire after several years. Justice takes so long to be served. Meanwhile, the other police officials reason that they don’t want to put their lives on the line but rather earn from the transactions instead.
The wealth ranking and affluent lifestyles of some of the local police officers is indication enough that not all their acquisitions are from their salaries alone. This is almost taken as a fact of life and par for the course. Corruption runs deep in Meghalaya. It begins at the lowest rungs of the administration. There are allegations galore that officials in the Office of the Deputy Commissioner, East Khasi Hills who man the land registration desk take their pick as to whose property they will immediately register and whose will be held up. This transactional malpractice is known to all but with so few whistleblowers, crime is normalised.
In Assam, the media regularly reports of officials taking bribes and being caught red handed and jailed – be they in the police or administration. Can this ever happen in Meghalaya when corruption begins at the very top? Besides, elections in India today are impossible without freebies and cash distribution. The Election Commission of India despite its best efforts is unable to check this.
Hopefully this time around those guilty of the illegal coal business transactions will be hauled up. Justice must be served so that people don’t lose faith in the judicial system.