By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, JAN 31: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Tuesday issued notice to the state government on the alleged violation of its orders by officials of the state transport department.
The matter was brought to the notice of the Principal Bench of the NGT by the Meghalaya Commercial Truck Owners and Operators Association (MCTOOA) during a hearing in New Delhi on Tuesday.
The violation against the directions of the NGT was pertaining to weighbridges which should be run by the state government and private parties should not be allowed to run or issue weighment certificates from such weighbridges.
“The tribunal upon hearing the submission made by our counsel Amit Kumar has taken a serious note of the matter and issued notice to the state as to why necessary orders or actions should not be passed or taken against the errant officers who are responsible for violating its orders,” MCTOOA president A Shanpru said in a statement.
He informed that the tribunal has fix March 10, as the date of hearing on this matter pertaining to violation of its order and also allowing the private parties to run the weighbridges.
He said that the NGT had stressed several times that the weighbridges installed after its ban on coal mining should be run by the government and strictly no private parties should be allowed to run or issue weighment certificates from those weighbridges.
“However, as a blatant violation and disrespect to the tribunal’s orders, the officers in transport department habitually defied the orders and authorized private parties to issue weighment certificates to coal laden trucks,” he alleged.
He also alleged that the most glaring example of such insult to the order of the NGT was the recent authorization by the Commissioner and Secretary of Transport to one of his clan members to issue weighment certificates to the coal laden trucks in East Jaintia Hills District.
He said because of this permission granted by the transport department to private parties to run the weighbridges, there is a massive loss of revenue to the state exchequer.
Further alleging that there is a serious collusion between the officials of the transport department and private parties who are running the weighbridges, Shanpru said, “This connivance and nexus between the private parties and the transport department is apparent with the recent complaint/communication lodge by the officials of taxation department who are posted at one of the private weighbridges to their head of the department.”
He said the state government could have taken private weighbridges on lease and allows its officials to operate those weighbridges for verification of the weights of coal laden trucks.
He also warned that if this illegal authorization to private parties by the officials of transport department is not stopped forthwith, they will be forced to submit before the NGT to summon the concern officers of transport department and depose before the tribunal for personal explanation in the next date of hearing.
“This is not the only instances where the officials of the transport department have shown disrespect to such orders. Even the orders passed by the Courts too have got no value before the officials of the department,” he said while adding that on more than three occasions the judicial orders were treated as piece of papers by the department and till date no action has been taken on such orders.
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