Guwahati: Meghalaya Leader of Opposition Mukul Sangma has accused the authorities of allowing illegal coal mining cases to remain unresolved by combining separate violations into the same proceedings.

During a media interaction on Thursday, Sangma said individual instances should be handled independently because grouping them together makes it harder for courts to reach a decision.

He said legislators are often told that the matter is sub-judice when they raise it in the Assembly. Sangma argued that dealing with each violation separately would make the legal process easier.

Sangma also alleged that some cases are brought to court through FIRs but are later closed after investigators report that there is not enough evidence. He said this enables those responsible to avoid legal action.

He referred to committee findings which, according to him, indicate that illegal activities are continuing. At the same time, he said investigating agencies have told courts that there is insufficient evidence to proceed against those involved.

Sangma alleged that this approach has allowed illegal mining to continue without an end and criticised the repeated claim of insufficient evidence despite findings contained in committee reports.

He also questioned the quantity of coal recorded in 2018. Sangma said the amount remaining should have been only around 2 lakh metric tonnes after the coal listed in the inventories was transported following the National Green Tribunal’s 2014 ban.

According to him, the coal stocks had been checked by independent commissioners appointed by the NGT. He said permission to transport coal applied only to material that had already been extracted and was included in the verified inventories.

Sangma said the quantity had later risen from the expected 2 lakh MT to 32 lakh MT by 2018. He questioned who had approved the increase and said the matter needed to be examined in greater detail.

He further alleged that he had earlier discovered a mismatch in the recorded coal quantity in West Jaintia Hills during a personal verification.

Sangma said he had approached then Chief Secretary MS Rao for an independent investigation into the discrepancy. According to him, no action was taken on his request.

He alleged that there was collusion in the matter and said an independent investigation was necessary. Without such an inquiry, he said, the issue would continue without resolution and consume the judiciary’s time.