Total lack of concern for Court Orders; Supreme Court summons Maharashtra Chief Secy

The Supreme Court yesterday ordered the personal presence of Chief Secretary of State of Maharashtra. Chief Secretary’s presence has been sought to explain why there is no concern shown at all for the orders passed by the Supreme Court and the Government of India while allowing illegal mining to continue in the State..A bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta passed the order after taking note of the fact that the Maharashtra government has failed to file its response for the second time. Earlier, on April 23 this year, the Court had granted time to the State to file its reply after noting that there was no appearance on behalf of the State..“On 23.04.2018, we passed a somewhat detailed order in which we noticed that there is no appearance on behalf of the State of Maharashtra and observed that this was very unfortunate. We also noted that earlier the State of Maharashtra had taken time to file a reply but has not done so far. We also noted that the State of Maharashtra has taken no action to stop illegal mining by other miners in the areas under consideration..In view of the above, we issued notice to the standing counsel for the State of Maharashtra to enter appearance with clear instructions and that no further time would be granted for this purpose.”.When the matter was taken up yesterday, the Court noted that the State has not “bothered to file its reply” and no action has been taken to stop illegal mining..The counsel for the State again sought time to file its response. The Court did not hesitate to turn it down coming upon the State in strong words:.“Notwithstanding our order dated 23.04.2018, the State of Maharashtra has shown no degree of urgency or concern in the matter. Today, learned counsel appearing for the State of Maharashtra once again seeks time to file a reply. We are not inclined to accede to the request in view of total lack of concern shown by the State of Maharashtra to the orders passed by this Court as also to the illegal mining which had been directed to be stopped even by the Government of India.”.The applicants also brought to the notice of the Court an Office Memorandum dated November 27, 2017, issued by the Government of India along with a report of the Committee for a site inspection for the proposal of the applicant for bauxite mining near Radhanagari Wildlife Sanctuary..As per the report, Bauxite mining is being operated by M/s Hindalco Industries Ltd. Durgmanwad adjoining Radhanagri in violation of orders passed by the Supreme Court in 2006 and without obtaining any wildlife clearance from the National Board for Wildlife..The Court, therefore, sought the presence of Chief Secretary of the State to explain why no response has been filed till date and why the State is allowing illegal mining to continue..“Under the circumstances, we require the presence of the Chief Secretary of the State of Maharashtra on 02.11.2018 to explain why there is no concern shown at all for the orders passed by this Court and orders passed by the Government of India and why illegal mining is continuing.”.The Court also directed the Chief Secretary to ensure that illegal mining in areas where there is no clearance given by the National Board of Wildlife should be stopped with immediate effect..Senior Advocate Ranjit Kumar along with advocates Mohit Paul and Ayush Agrawal appeared for the applicant..Advocates Rajesh K Singh, Nishant R Katneshwarkar, and Suvarna Ganu appeared for the State of Maharashtra..Read the order below.