Shillong, July 03: 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 recognised the rights of the tribals.The official judgment is yet to be made available.
“The official judgment has not come out as 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 recognised.
“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 Chief Minister added.
He further said that Meghalaya has to realise 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 placed. There was no movement of any sort by the previous Government, we challenged the order of the NGT and the hardwork 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 victory of the people, especially the tribal community. He also had a word of advice to the people to undertaken mining by striking a balance between 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.
Therefore, the burden of the fine has not been imposed on the State Govt. but rather on the illegal miners and transporters of illegally mined coal, who the State Govt. has
continuously penalized for violations.
The Hon’ble Supreme Court today has paved the way for operationalizing coal mining in the State of Meghalaya under the relevant statutory framework of the MMDR Act, 1957. The present State Govt. for the first time since the imposition of the mining ban by the NGT in 2014, preferred two Civil Appeals before the Hon’ble Supreme Court.
Till the preferring of the Civil Appeals by the present State Govt. no steps had been taken by the previous government for removal of the ban imposed by the NGT.
The State Govt. argued for the protection of the rights of the indigenous and the Tribal population of Meghalaya, and it was specifically contended that the Tribals have the right over the land, and also possess proprietary rights over the extracted mineral. The
said contention of the State Govt. has been categorically and emphatically upheld by the Hon’ble Supreme Court.
It is a first in the short history of the State of Meghalaya that the top court of the country has acknowledged the unique position of Tribals in the State of Meghalaya and has acknowledged and affirmed the rights of the Tribals over the lands and minerals thereunder for which consistent efforts have been made by the present Govt. which
argued the case on behalf of the Tribal population of the State and all other stake-holders.
The Hon’ble Apex Court has further held that it is the tribals who are the lawful owners of the extracted coal. As a one-time measure, the Hon’ble Court has directed Coal India Ltd. to auction off all the coal which is already extracted, and the proceeds of the auction shall be remitted to the State Govt. which in turn shall remit the same to the lawful owners of the coal, i.e. the Tribal Miners.
In the above circumstances, the Hon’ble Supreme Court has uplifted the ban on coal mining subject to compliance with the provisions of the MMDR Act, 1957 and the Mineral Concession Rules, 1960.
The mining inTribal lands shall be permitted subject to requisite permissions from the owner of the Tribal land, and with approved mining plan. Therefore, the State can look towards the future by initiating scientific mining practices under the regulatory framework.
There is no longer a regulatory void with the coming of the judgement of the Hon’ble Court and the mining activities can be restarted in terms of the guidelines of the Hon’ble Court.
The Hon’ble Supreme Court further 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. SC has therefore directed that the amount of Rs. 100 Crores be paid from the MEPRF Fund, which was created for collecting fines or penalties from persons who were engaged in illegal mining.
Therefore, the burden of the fine has notbeen imposed on the State Govt. but rather on the illegal miners andtransporters of illegally mined coal, who the State Govt. has continuously penalized for violations.
The Hon’ble Supreme Court has passed as many as 15 directions, thereby giving a green-light to mining operations in the State, subject to strict compliance of the regulatory frame-work.
No fault has been found with the State Govt, and the judgement is likely to pave the way for the future and is a massive victory in the Govt’s efforts to bolster and protect the rights of its Tribal citizens and also of all stake-holders who were suffering on account of the ban on coal mining.
The State Govt. has been directed to continue to take action against illegal miners under relevant provision of MMDR Act. A complete copy of the judgement is expected to be made available by the evening of 3rd July 2019, and further steps shall be notified upon receipt and analysis of the decision in its entirety.
