Meghalaya HC pulls up cops & dist admin for permitting unlawful operations | Guwahati Information – The Occasions of India

Guwahati: Meghalaya excessive court docket on Thursday took suo motu cognizance of the coal mine catastrophe in East Jaintia Hills, the place 25 our bodies have been recovered up to now, and pulled up district civil and police authorities for permitting such unlawful operations to proceed and ordered speedy arrest of the mine house owners and operators.The bench of Justice HS Thangkhiew and Justice W Diengdoh famous, “It isn’t understood as to how unlawful coal mining is continuous on this space despite the reported lack of life of 1 individual in an incident that occurred on Jan 14, 2026.”

A 48-year-old labourer from Assam died inside an unlawful coal mine on Jan 14 in Thangkso beneath Khliehriat police station.The court docket directed the district deputy commissioner and SP to look in individual earlier than the court docket on Feb 9 with the main points of the motion taken and to furnish causes as to why the scenario has been allowed to proceed. The court docket additionally ordered the seizure of all equipment, paperwork and different supplies linked with the mining operations.The court docket’s directives got here throughout the listening to of its ongoing suo motu case on unlawful coal mining within the state, initiated in 2022.“This court docket has come to be taught from numerous digital media stories that there was a mining tragedy once more in Thangkso in East Jaintia Hills, whereby, it’s reported that there was explosion in three unlawful coal mines which has resulted within the lack of life and accidents to a number of individuals. This court docket is constrained to take judicial discover of those stories,” the judges famous within the order.Coal mining actions within the state was declared unlawful by the Nationwide Inexperienced Tribunal and banned in 2014, which was upheld by the Supreme Courtroom in 2019.The excessive court docket in 2022 arrange a committee headed by retired Gauhati Excessive Courtroom decide, BP Katakey, to determine whether or not the instructions issued by the SC and NGT had been complied with.The Katakey committee in its 35^th Interim Report back to the excessive court docket, filed on Jan 17, flagged East Jaintia Hills district as probably the most affected district within the state by way of coal mining actions.In the meantime, with regard to the unlawful mining web site at Kremlangshait Forest in Lumbangla in East Jaintia Hills, state govt in its standing report, submitted earlier than the court docket, mentioned actions have been taken, together with dismantling of equipment, destruction of makeshift camps, and barricading the mining web site.