SHILLONG:
The Meghalaya High Court appointed Justice (Retired) BP Katakey, a former Judge of the Gauhati High 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 National Green Tribunal (NGT), on April 19.
The High Court said that Justice Katakey has agreed to look into the several aspects of the matter, particularly the extent to which the directions issued by the Supreme Court and the NGT have been complied with and what more needs to be done for such compliance.
“It will also be open to the state to explore the possibilities of regulating coal-mining in accordance with law, upon ensuring that all illegal coal-mining activities are stopped and the machinery for the illegal mining activities are completely removed and dealt with in accordance with law,” the Full Bench consisting of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee, Justice H. S. Thangkhiew and Justice W. Diengdoh, said.
According to the High Court, Justice Katakey will also recommend the measures to be immediately taken to comply with the outstanding directions, including the sale of coal now available, under the aegis of Coal India Limited.
The State will extend all cooperation to Justice Katakey, including providing for his accommodation and travel for the purpose of completing the exercise in terms of this order as expeditiously as possible, the court said.
The High Court also directed the state to pay an ad hoc remuneration of Rs.1 lakh to Justice Katakey subject to further consideration on such aspects.
The High Court also asked Justice Katakey to file a preliminary report dealing with the directions issued by the Supreme Court and the NGT that have been complied with and, more importantly, suggesting expeditious steps to comply with the outstanding directions, including the transportation and sale of the available coal.
“Such preliminary report should be filed within four weeks. Justice Katakey will also look into the measures adopted by the state to ensure that there is no unregulated or illegal coal-mining or any instance of rat-hole mining anywhere,” the High Court said. It may be mentioned that earlier Justice (Retired) Katakey had headed a committee constituted by the NGT.
Several recommendations were made and a number of the recommendations formed the basis for the directions issued by the Supreme Court in the order of July 3, 2019.
The High Court also said that appropriate action also needs to be taken against the persons involved, and it is a matter of regret that despite previous observations in such regard that illegal coal-mining activities could not have been continued without the local administration’s connivance, the state has not taken any action against any official.
Earlier, the Full Bench of the High Court said that one of the key aspects of the matter is the sale of coal that had already been mined prior to the prohibition on mining by the orders of the NGT. The Court said that directions were issued by the Supreme Court for the sale of such coal.
“As a result of the sale of the previously mined coal not being completed, illegal coal-mining was, in a sense, facilitated with the illegal miners claiming that the freshly mined coal was actually the previously mined coal. It is imperative that the entire stock of coal be sold as expeditiously as possible,” the High Court said.
The matter will be heard again on May 24, 2022.