Export to Bangladesh: Meghalaya HC pulls up state govt for not checking coal's origin
The Meghalaya High Court has pulled up the state government for allowing coal export to Bangladesh through land customs stations in the state without seeking to ascertain the origin of such coal.
The state of Meghalaya is to the north-east of Bangladesh and shares over 400 kilometres of border with the country.
"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 in the state without apparently, seeking to ascertain the source or origin of such coal," the bench said, reports our New Delhi correspondent.
A division bench of the court, comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice W Diengdoh, said this yesterday while hearing a PIL.
The high court said several letters were issued to the state by central agencies and by the Indian finance ministry before the suo motu proceedings pertaining to illegal coal mining and illegal transportation of that coal were instituted in this court.
"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……," the bench said.
The high court said 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."
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