SHILLONG: The Meghalaya high court has declined exoneration for the state government over export of illegally-mined coal.
The Meghalaya high court declined to exonerate the state government from complicity in export of illegally-mined coal to Bangladesh.
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The Meghalaya high court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) in regards to export of coal via Gasuapara land custom station in the state.
The court also took note of the submission made by the Meghalaya government that a system has been set up to check illegal mining and transportation of coal within the state.
The Meghalaya high court stated that adopting few measures would not exonerate the state government.
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The court added that it would also not lead to any inference that the Meghalaya government may not have been complicit in the export of illegally-mined coal to Bangladesh before such a system was put in place.
The PIL was filed by Meghalaya-based trader Champer M Sangma.
The PIL relates to export of coal between December 2021 and May 2022 by an Assam-based company to Bangladesh.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) had banned rat-hole coal mining in Meghalaya in April 2014.
“From or about the year 2016, there could have been no mining of coal in the state since it is the state government’s consistent stand that no license has yet been issued for undertaking scientific mining of coal and, by 2016, orders of the National Green Tribunal, as affirmed by the Supreme Court, were already in place completely banning the extraction of coal in the State of Meghalaya except in accordance with the law,” the Meghalaya high court’s order said.