SHILLONG:
The government has failed to comply with the directions issued by the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in respect to the coal issue in the state, the preliminary report submitted by Justice (Retd) BP Katakey revealed.
The 41-page report dated May 23, 2022, indicated that except for notifying the Meghalaya Minerals (Prevention of Illegal Mining, Transportation and Storage) Rules, 2022 as recently as March 24, 2022, “none of the directions issued by the Hon’ble Supreme Court … and the NGT have been complied with by the concerned authorities…” The report was placed before the full bench of the Meghalaya High Court during the hearing on a PIL here on May 24.
The report also revealed non-compliance with the Apex court and NGT’s directions by authorities including State of Meghalaya, the State and Central Pollution Control Boards, the North Eastern Space Application Centre and the Integrated Regional Office of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
In addition, the report makes recommendations to ensure implementation of the outstanding directions in point form, so that the appropriate agencies can deal with the various aspects.
The court said it is a matter of regret that orders passed by the Supreme Court and by the NGT continue to be violated and the directions issued are not implemented and directed that the recommendations made in the preliminary report be immediately taken note of and the relevant matters addressed.
“It is made clear that the time for implementation of the outstanding directions will not be counted from today or from the date of institution of the present suo motu proceedings, but from the relevant dates when such directions were issued,” it said, while directing all relevant authorities to get their acts in order and ensure the complete implementation of the directions within four weeks from date.
Earlier, Justice BP Katakey has been appointed by the Court to head a committee for recommending the measures to be taken by the state in compliance with the directions issued by the Supreme Court and NGT, including the sale of already extracted coal.
The court further directed that Justice Katakey, will continue to monitor the implementation of the recommendations, including the outstanding orders and the directions of the Supreme Court and the NGT.
“For such purpose, Justice Katakey will make periodic visits to Shillong, which will be facilitated by the state government. A secretary-level member in the state’s civil service should be attached to Justice Katakey to facilitate the monitoring work,” it said.
The court also requested the government to have the supporting papers spirally-bound both for the Court and for the state’s use, while adding that the preliminary report should be kept outside the spirally-bound papers. “All the measures which have been recommended should be addressed as expeditiously as possible,” it said.
The court also said that a copy of the preliminary report together with the attendant papers, which have been filed, will be made over to the Union through the office of Assistant Solicitor-General attached to this Court.
Meanwhile, the court also directed all the authorities to respond individually to indicate to what extent the outstanding directions have been complied with. The next hearing will be held on June 21.