Jharkhand Coal Block Auction : Supreme Court Mulls Setting Up Expert Panel To Study Effect Of Mining Near Eco-Sensitive Zones

The Supreme Court on Wednesday observed that it was thinking of setting up an expert committee to assess the effect of mining in the coal blocks near eco-sensitive regions in the State of Jharkhand.

During the hearing, the bench considered the names of M K Jiwarajka and Dhananjay Mohan(former Indian Forest Service officers) as members of the expert committee.

A bench led by Chief Justice of India S A Bobde also orally remarked that it was proposing to stay the auction process of coal blocks scheduled in November for a month till the committee submits the report.

When the CJI made this observation, the Attorney General for India, K K Venugpal vehemently objected and said that the stay of the auction will affect the plans of the Union Governemnt to revive industrial production across the country.

"It will affect the efforts of Union to rebuild the economy", the AG stressed.

The Attorney General strongly resisted the move to stay the auction process and sought for a day's time to place on record ceretain materials, which he said would "satisfy the court's conscience" regarding the environmental concerns.

Accordingly, the bench, also including Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, proceeded to adjourn the hearing till November 6.

The State of Jharkhand has filed an original suit under Article 131 challenging the Ministry of Coal's decision to auction coal blocks situated in the state for commercial mining.

Before filing the suit, the State had filed a writ petition challenging the Centre's action for virtual auction process of 41 coal blocks for commercial mining.

The bench was considering the above said original suit and the writ petition filed by the State of Jharkhand today.

Senior Advocate Fali S Nariman, appearing for the State Government in the suit, submitted that a centre-state dispute under Article 131 of the Constitutition required urgent consideration. The senior lawyer further told the bench that there was no oral evidence in the case and that no cross-examination was intended with respect to persosn who have submitted affidavits.

Recording this submission, the bench posted the suit for the framing of issues.

Then, the bench referred to the query it had made on the previous date of hearing regarding the mines being close of ecologically sensitive areas.

In reply, the Attorney General submitted that when the Union Ministry proposed auction of coal blocks for commercial mining, the Jharkhand Government had sent a letter in which no objection to the policy was raised. Without raising any environmental concerns, the State Government had sought for postponement of the auction process to maximize revenue, the AG said.

Terming the case of Jharkhand a "subterfuge", the AG said "They never challenged the decision to auction. They only wanted the postponement of auction to maximize revenue. Now they are raising eco concerns".

Senior Advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the state government in the writ petition, submitted that the balance of convenience was totally in favour of staying the auction process till the expert committee submits its report. He informed that the auction is scheduled on November 9 and 11, when the courts are closed for Diwali holidays. 

"If the private allottees are allowed to uproot forests, irreversible damage will happen. They will claim equities on the basis of auction", Singhvi submitted.

The CJI said that the bench was concerned that many mines were "dangerously close" to the forest areas.

"We want to satisfy our conscience about the environment. We will ask the committee to give the report in one month. For one month, don't do anything', the CJI told the AG.

However, following the request for time made by the AG, the bench refrained from passing an order and deferred the hearing till Friday.

In its suit, the state has claimed that it is "highly inappropriate" for the Centre to conduct auction at this time of COVID-19 pandemic as all the machinery of the state and the Centre are to be enjoined to "alleviate the problems of citizen" caused due to the deadly virus.

It claimed that the suit has been filed to "assail the unilateral, highhanded, arbitrary and illegal action" of the Centre in launching the auction of commercial coal mining for nine coal blocks situated within the territory of Jharkhand.

"The defendant (Centre) has announced the impugned auction unilaterally without consultation with the plaintiff (Jharkhand). The plaintiff state is the owner of the mines and minerals situated within the territory of the plaintiff," said the suit, settled by advocates including Jharkhand's Additional Advocate General Tapesh Singh.

"The meetings of February 2020 are meaningless as they do not take into account the materially changed circumstance arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic. Renewed consultation with the plaintiff state was indeed required due to COVID-19 pandemic which has brought the nation and the entire globe to a standstill, in a manner never seen before," it said.

Referring to the purported meetings or consultations held on February 5 and February 23, the suit has claimed that the Centre did not consider the objections raised by the state.

Referring to the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution, which deals with administration and control of Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes, it said that six of the nine coal blocks in Jharkhand - Chakla, Chitarpur, North Dhadu, Rajhara North, Seregarha and Urma Paharitola -- which have been put up for auction fall within the Schedule Fifth areas.

It said out of the total population of 3,29,88,134 in Jharkhand, a total of 1,60,10,448 resides in the Schedule Areas.

"The impugned action impinges the rights of the indigenous people of the plaintiff state and will lead to large scale displacement and consequential rehabilitation and re-settlement issues," it said.

It alleged that the Centre's action is in violation of the environmental norms and will "cause irreparable damage" to the environment, forests and land area of the state.

The plea said that Jharkhand has a forest cover of 29.4 per cent and the coal blocks put up for auction are situated in forest lands.

Referring to the situation prevailing due to the pandemic, the suit alleged that auction of coal blocks at this time "will be playing into the hands of the capitalist lobbies at the cost of national interest".

"The present situation, thus, is not conducive for conducting the auction which is bound to get affected by the falling growth rate and weak economic conditions," it said, adding that the Centre's action of commencing tendering process from June 18 onwards without "proper consultation, coordination" with the state is "unjustified".