Very little has been done by State to curb illegal coal mining: Meghalaya High Court

The Meghalaya High Court on Tuesday noted that the State government had done very little to curb illegal mining of coal and its transportation to illegal coke plants. [Monu Kumar v. State of Meghalaya and ors].A full-bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee with Justices HS Thangkhiew and W Diengdoh was also left unimpressed when the State sought an adjournment in the matter."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 bench observed.The High Court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) raising grievance against illegal mining and coke plants in the State..The petitioner had flagged concern that several coke oven plants were being allowed to function in the West Khasi Hills District without any license or permission.In response, the Court has now expanded the scope of inquiry of a one-person committee, comprising retired Gauhati High Court judge BP Katakey, looking into such issues. The commission has now been called on to examine the role of conniving officials allowing such practices."Justice Katakey’s 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. In course of such exercise, the acts of omission and commission by persons in the administration, particularly police officials, including, possibly, the officer-in-charge of Shallang, may also be directed to be looked into", the Court said. .The matter will be heard next on July 3. Advocate MAI Hussain appeared for the petitioner. Additional Advocate General K Khan, with Additional Senior Government Advocate S Sengupta and Government Advocate R Colney represented the State government..The High Court has also been hearing a suo motu case on illegal coal mining in the State.Last year, the Court had warned that the issue needs to be deeply probed without any political agenda.In March 2022, the Court observed that such illegal activities were being carried out with the connivance of the local administration.In February this year, the Court ordered the deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) to monitor and stop the practice.Coal mining in Meghalaya is being restored in a limited capacity in phases, after the Supreme Court in 2019 set aside a 2014 order of the National Green Tribunal that ordered a blanket ban on coal mining in the State..[Read order]