Shillong, March 2: The state government is exploring termination of the service of Justice (Retd) BP Katakey appointed by the High Court of Meghalaya to monitor all aspects related to illegal coal mining.
An official source said that the government has already sought legal advice to file a plea in the high court to conclude the services of the one-man committee.
Expenditure
To substantiate its stand, the government pointed out over Rs 65 lakh expenditure incurred on Katakey.
According to the government till December 2024, it has incurred an expenditure of more than Rs. 65,75, 350 for his services.
This includes Rs 44 lakh for his adhoc remuneration. Rs. 9 lakh for office expenses, and Rs12,75.350 for accommodation and hospitality.
However, the government has not included additional expenses such as fuel for his vehicle, vehicle costs for accompanying officers. protocol expenses, meeting arrangements, and travel allowances for officers traveling with him.
In December 2019, Katakey had resigned from the committee allegedly due to lack of cooperation by the state government.
Later, he was appointed by the high court of Meghalaya as per order issued on April 19, 2022.
The order to appoint him was when the court was hearing the PIL No 2 of 2022 in the suo motu case on illegal mining of coal in Meghalaya to assess the extent to which the directions issued by the Supreme Court and NGT have been complied with.
Justice Katakey was also tasked with recommending measures for immediate implementation to ensure compliance with outstanding directions, including addressing the sale of coal under Coal India Limited’s aegis and ensuring that no unregulated or illegal coal mining, including rat-hole mining, takes place in the state.
Overlapping of committees
Another reason cited by the government is the constitution of an ‘Oversight Committee’ by NGT.
The NGT through its order on March 15, 2021 constituted the 12-member oversight committee tasked with ensuring compliance with the supreme court’s judgment and subsequent NGT orders. The committee is also responsible for preventing unscientific and unregulated mining, handling already mined materials, and addressing issues related to the rejuvenation of contaminated rivers and streams.
According to the government, there is overlap of mandates of high court-appointed Katakey committee and the oversight committee by NGT which has led to redundancy and inefficiency.
Conflict of interest
The government also said the legal proceedings that led to the litigation in the high court and subsequently the supreme court, resulting in the appointment of Justice Katakey, originated from an application filed by the All Dimasa Students Union, Dima Hasao District Committee. It is important to note that Justice Katakey hails from Assam from where the original application arose. This creates a potential conflict of interest and is in contradiction to the principles of natural justice, the government said.
Diversion of manpower
Justice Katakey’s presence requires multiple officers to divert their attention from other important duties to assist him. Even when he is not in the state, officers remain continuously engaged in tasks and assignments assigned by him. This has resulted in a disproportionate allocation of resources, leading to inefficiencies in the discharge of regular office work. As a result, the department is unable to focus on critical tasks, such as mineral exploration and mining, hindering overall productivity, the government claimed.
Disposal of seized coal
The government also claimed that the seized coal was disposed of.
In compliance with the judgment in para 191 (25), the state government notified a revised procedure for the disposal of seized minerals on June 9 2020. Under this procedure, 7,49,847 MT of seized coal has been disposed of through auctions in various districts.
Revised comprehensive plan for coal auction
The state government has formulated a revised comprehensive plan for auctioning inventoried coal in consultation with Coal India Limited and Justice Katakey. As on October 25, 2022, 603,145.49 MT of inventoried coal has been put up for auction. Of this, 402.556 MT has been sold, while 200.589.49 MT remains unsold due to the absence of bidders.
Compliance with supreme court judgment
Regarding the supreme court’s judgment in July 2019, the state government has complied with the orders. The state has implemented a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for scientific coal mining, notified on March 5, 2021. Thirty-five applications for scientific coal mining have been received, with three receiving final approval to commence mining. The remaining 32 applications are in advanced stages of approval. The scientific mining will start in Meghalaya anytime soon.
The government is of the view that services of Justice Katakey should be concluded or terminated on these grounds and there is no need for his continued involvement as the mining and geology department can file reports directly to the High Court from time to time in a manner as decided by the court.
When contacted, Katakey did not want to make any comments on the move of the government.
However, sources said that the frequent reports of the Katakey committee citing illegal mining of coal and the need to take action, have annoyed the government.
Sources pointed out that though the government is citing overlapping of 12-member oversight committee and Katakey panel, the government did not object to the formation of the oversight committee and waited for several years. It also took many years to come to the conclusion that there is a conflict of interest as the original petitioner All Dimasa Students Union and Katakey are from Assam.
