Meghalaya High Court Pulls Up Conrad Sangma Govt on Illegal Coal Exports

SHILLONG: The Meghalaya High Court on Thursday pulled up the state government for clearing the export of coal, without seeking to ascertain such coal’s source or origin, through the state‘s land customs stations.

A Meghalaya High Court’s division bench, comprising Chief Justice Sanjb Banerjee and Justice W Diengdoh, while hearing a PIL filed by Champer M Sangma, sharply rebuked the Conrad Sangma-led government.

“It is alarming that despite the state understanding the purport of the request by Central agencies, it was so lax that it allowed tens of thousands of metric tonnes of coal to be cleared for export through land customs stations within the state without, apparently, seeking to ascertain the source or origin of such coal,” the bench said.

It is significant to note that, before the hearing of the suo motu proceedings pertaining to illegal coal mining and illegal transportation of the illegally-mined coal in the Meghalaya HC, the court mentioned about several letters that were issued to the state by central agencies and by the Union Finance Ministry on the subject.

“The Central agencies suspected such activities and in the letters referred to in the previous order warned the state, including through the Union Minister of Finance. The state, not only did not take any steps, but actively concealed these letters from the court with glib apology recorded above at paragraph 12 of its recent affidavit,” the bench said.

The high court pointed a finger at the state government, saying that the “complicity of the state with the mafia and the racket operating in the illegal mining of coal and its illegal transportation is clear and obvious and there can be little doubt that the higher-ups in the administration are the beneficiaries of the illegal gains and responsible for the colossal loss of revenue that has been occasioned to the state.”

It is indeed a sorry state of affairs when top officials of the state are in collusion with the coal mafia and taking cutbacks from the illegal trade at a time when the illegal rat-hole mining in the state led to several deaths and is causing destruction to the environment in this pristine state. The loss of revenue to the state is secondary.

In its recent affidavit, the Meghalaya government said, “The state tenders an unconditional apology for not putting on record these documents in these proceedings on earlier occasion or else the observations made by this Hon’ble Court in order dated 17.05.2023 attributing complicity to the state would never have occasioned”

The Court, while accepting the apology, referred to the suo motu proceedings pertaining to the illegal mining of coal which were initiated in or about March, 2022, and whereas matters connected to the illegal transportation of such illegally-mined coal were addressed in several orders from or about April, 2022 but no heed was taken.

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