Rat-Hole Coal Mining: Meghalaya High Court Directs State To Implement SC & NGT Directions

"While 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, it is necessary that the recommendations made in the preliminary report of May 23, 2022 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. As such, all relevant authorities should get their acts in order and ensure the complete implementation of the directions within four weeks from date."

Factual Background:

The Court had taken suo motu cognizance of a newspaper article that referred to the dangerous process of rat-hole mining that has the potential to cause collapse and which may lead to trapping of miners inside the mines. The Court also noted that there have been several deaths in such manner.

The object of the exercise, it held, is not to altogether prohibit coal-mining in the State. Rather, to regulate illegal rat-hole mining in the State. The other purpose for taking up the matter was to ensure that the directions issued by the Supreme Court and by the National Green Tribunal were complied with.

There was a committee constituted by the NGT which was headed by Justice B.P. Katakey (retired), a former Judge of the Gauhati High Court. 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. By an order dated April 4, 2022, it was proposed that a committee would be set up on the lines as formed by the NGT earlier to ascertain whether the directions issued by the Supreme Court and the NGT had been complied with; and, to the extent that they had not been, how the same could be complied with at the earliest.

One of the key aspects of the matter was the sale of coal that had already been mined prior to the prohibition on mining by the orders of the NGT. 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 facilitated with the illegal miners claiming that the freshly mined coal was actually the 'previously mined coal'. The Court, hence, stressed that the entire stock of coal be sold as expeditiously as possible.

Justice Katakey had 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. Then, the Court had clarified that 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.

Justice Katakey was requested to 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. He was asked 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.

Court's Observations:

The Court noted that preliminary findings in the report dated May 23, 2022 indicate 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 Supreme Court and the NGT have been complied with by the concerned authorities. The authorities that have been specifically mentioned include the 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 the preliminary findings, the details of the non-compliance have been pointed out. Further, the report made recommendations to ensure implementation of the outstanding directions in point form, so that the appropriate agencies can deal with the various aspects.

"It is surprising that the State has not resorted to drone photography to monitor the activities in the less accessible areas. It is alarming that District Magistrates, Sub-Divisional Officers and even Block Level Officers are in place along with their counterparts from the police right up to the Superintendent of Police; but all of them turn a Nelson's eye to such illegal activities. It can safely be said that the scene in and around Khliehriat speaks of the vast stretches there being beyond the purview of the administration and it is impossible that the illegal mining activities and the deposit of freshly mined coal would be conducted with such impunity without the possible connivance of the local administration or even worse," the High Court observed.

The Court 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, he will make periodic visits to Shillong, which will be facilitated by the State government. The State was directed to attach a secretary-level member in the State's civil service to Justice Katakey to facilitate the monitoring work.

A copy of the preliminary report together with the attendant papers, which were filed, were ordered to be made over to the Union through the office of learned Assistant Solicitor-General. It directed that all the authorities specifically referred to in paragraph 3.2 of the report dated May 23, 2022 should respond individually to indicate to what extent the outstanding directions have been complied with.

The case was then listed to 21^st June 2022 for reviewing the progress.

Case Title: In Re Suo Motu Illegal Mining of coal in the State of Meghalaya v. State of Meghalaya

Case No.: PIL No. 2 of 2022

Order Dated: 24^th May 2022

Coram: Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee, Justice H.S Thangkhiew & Justice W. Diengdoh

Counsel for the Respondent: Mr. K. Khan, Sr. Government Advocate with Ms. R. Colney, Government Advocate

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Meg) 17