SHILLONG, JULY 4: The Meghalaya High Court on Tuesday asserted the need for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into illegal mining and transportation of coal in the state even as it warned that the state government will be held responsible if any harm come to any of the petitioners against illegal coal mining and illegal coke oven operations.
This was after a video footage was produced before the Court during a hearing on the PIL filed by Champer M Sangma here.
The first part of the video footage revealed the rampant illegal coal-mining activities and the transportation of such illegally-mined coal in several districts including the districts of West Khasi Hills, South West Khasi Hills, East Jaintia Hills and South Garo Hills.
The second part contained satellite images from several areas, showing widespread dumps of fresh coal.
However, the Deputy Commissionerof South Garo Hills claimed, upon viewing the video footage, that this was the coal that had been previously seized. The DC also claimed to have been in office for the last six months.
In its order, the division bench said, “Since repeated orders over the last 15 months have yielded little result and the illegal trade in coal has its tentacles in other neighbouring or nearby States, particularly Assam, it may be in public interest to require the Central Bureau of Investigation to inquire into the matter including the allegations, video footage, photographs and other material produced by the several petitioners in this and the connected matters or by other public spirited individuals.”
The order said that a petitioner in a related matter which appeared before the Full Bench on July 3, 2023, had claimed that he had been threatened by one of the kingpins with dire consequences should he dare to proceed with the matter adding that even the present petitioner (of the case) also expresses apprehension over his own safety.
Stating that the State will be held responsible if anything happen to the petitioners, the bench said, “Since, hopefully, the rule of law can still be presumed to operate in the State, notwithstanding the blatant manner in which orders of the Supreme Court prohibiting illegal mining of coal have been flouted by the administration and completely overlooked by the police machinery, the State is put on notice that should any harm, even the slightest scratch or sprain, come to any of the petitioners in this and the other matters pertaining to illegal coal-mining and illegal coke oven operations, the State will be held responsible.”
The order further said indeed, as has been noticed in one of the matters, the State had been warned by the Union, including the Union Minister for Finance, that it should guard against illegally-mined coal in the State being exported by fabricating documents.
“Little or nothing was done by the State in such regard. To top it all, the receipt of such letters was actively concealed by the State from the Court till a few months back,” it stated.
The Court also said that the respondent No.14 (Jaimaa Coal Private Limited) in this case which, whether in its own name or through other entities owned and controlled by the same human agencies, has exported close to 2 lakh MT of coal in the last 15 months through the Land Customs Station in the South Garo Hills District by claiming the coal to have been mined outside the State with the State officials having certified to such effect without bothering to make any inquiries as to the origin of the coal.
It said that the respondent No.14, which and its associates operate across several States, has spared no efforts to scuttle this matter, whether by seeking adjournments or by trying to divert the attention of the Court to irrelevant matters and it is unfortunate that the request today is for an adjournment on the medical ground of Counsel.
“It had been sufficiently made clear that in this matter adjournments should not be sought and it is unfortunate that Counsel lends his cause for an adjournment to be sought by what appears to be an entity or a group of persons having complete disregard for law and authority,” the Court said.
Meanwhile, the Court has directed the State to show cause through a high official “as to why the Court should still have any confidence in the police or the administrative machinery in the State to ensure that illegal mining of coal is completely brought to a stop and its illegal transportation prohibited.”
It said that the video footage that was shown in Court in the course of the present hearing will be made available to the State in course of the day.
It will be open to the petitioner to gather further material, if possible, should the State need any further convincing that it has altogether failed to check the menace or to uphold the rule of law in such regard, the Court stated.
The next hearing will be held on July 13.
By Our Reporter
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