Supreme Court Lifts Coal Mining Ban in Meghalaya

Meghalaya

Shilllong July 3, 2019:

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma has hailed the judgment of the Supreme Court, which has set aside the ban on coal by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and has given a judgment that has recognized the rights of the Tribals living in the State. The official judgment is yet to be made available.

“The official judgment has not come out as of yet but the basic gist of what we have been made to understand is that the ban that was put in by the NGT has been set aside by the SC and that the ban has been lifted,” said the Chief Minister.

He welcomed the judgment by saying that the most important part of the judgment is the fact that the tribal rights have been recognized.

Also Read: Supreme Court Directs Meghalaya Govt to Pay Rs 100 Crore Fine for Failing to Curb Illegal Coal Mining

“The fact that SC has come out with a judgment which states that the land and the resources are of the owners is landmark and historic, as it gives back the entire ownership to the people. This is the biggest victory, biggest aspect of the judgment as a whole,” the CM added.

He further said that Meghalaya has to realize the lesson learned with the ban on coal mining and its impact on the economy and should move on from now onwards by ensuring mining that is proper, scientific and systematic by adhering to rules and by ensuring utmost concern to the environmental aspect.

He congratulated the legal team headed by Advocate General Amit Kumar for all the preparations and legal formalities that were presented before the court challenging the NGT order.

“The legal team has worked tirelessly and have ensured that all necessary paper works were put in place. There was no movement of any sort by the previous Government, we challenged the order of the NGT and the hard work put in by the legal team has yielded result,” the Chief Minister said.

Welcoming the decision of the SC, the Chief Minister credited the judgment as a victory of the people, especially the tribal community. He also had a word of advice to the people to undertake to mine by striking a balance between the economy and the ecology.

He informed that SC has accepted the contention of the State Govt. that a penalty of 100 Crores as imposed by the NGT would cause hardship to the small State of Meghalaya and has therefore directed that the amount of Rs. 100 Crores be paid from the MEPRF Fund, which was created for collecting fines/penalties from persons who were engaged in illegal mining.