Meghalaya High Court raps Chief Secretary for taking action against officials involved in illegal coal mining.

Shillong: The Meghalaya High Court on Monday reprimanded the chief secretary for failing to take action against government officials for “looking the other way” and “actively assisting” illegal coal mining in the state.

Hearing a suo motu notice PIL, the three-member full bench of the High Court said that the time frame set for disposal of previously mined coal was not complied with, which led to fresh illegal mining of coal. Started, which was tried to be approved.

“This could not have happened without the active cooperation of the local administration. There should be accountability and immediate attention should be paid to this aspect of the matter so that the message is clear and clear that if any shortcomings are found in their supaervision, their Action will be taken against him, ”the court said.

The court noted that the report submitted by Chief Secretary RV Suchiang on the matter lacked the sole purpose of identifying actions against local officials “who were not only looking the other way during the promotion of illegal mining but also Can actively help. ”

While maintaining that the PIL is not to be re-examined in the case under the purview of the Supreme Court, the bench said that the present exercise is limited to ensuring that the issues issued by the Supreme Court and the NGT. Follow all instructions and follow them.

The court also suggested that a committee be set up to ensure better compliance with the directives and to find out the shortcomings of the administration.

In a report filed on April 1, the chief secretary had said that more than 3,500 trucks had been confiscated for violating the NGT’s order banning the transportation of coal.

On this, the court said that it appears that some action has been taken, though it is not clear from the report whether all the directions of the Supreme Court and NGT have been complied with.