[Coal Block Auction] 'Between Centre And Jharkhand Govt, Our Anxiety Is That Resources Not Be Depleted': CJI Bobde

The hearing, on Wednesday, in the suit by the Jharkhand Government against the launch of the auction process of coal blocks for purposes of commercial mining by the Centre was privy to interesting arguments and observations by the Supreme Court.At the outset, Senior Advocate Fali S. Nariman, appearing for the state of Jharkhand, drew the bench's attention to the October 9 affidavit filed by the Union of India, stating that the suit is not maintainable, it is misconceived and devoid of merits and should be dismissed."Your Lordships have in a bench of five said that suits under Article 131 are to be heard expeditiously...there is to be no oral evidence here and it is to be dealt solely on the provisions of the law", he advanced."So you don't want any oral evidence or cross-examination of the deponents?", checked the CJ."No, no,", replied both Mr. Nariman and Senior Advocate A. M. Singhvi, also for the government of Jharkhand."So we will record this. And put up the matter for hearing...we will also need to frame issues ourselves...", said the CJ.Then, the CJ inquired about the "so-called divided stand of the state of Jharkhand as to what kind of land it is where the mining is proposed to take place- forest land or eco-sensitive area"."At the last hearing, Your Lordships had said there is no order where the Governor of Jharkhand has said that the MMDR Act won't apply to the areas in question under clause 5(1) of the Fifth Schedule. But the local law to govern the area is the Chhotanagpur Tenancy Act, 1908 and Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act, 1949, which state that this land containing the mines cannot be transferred to a non-tribal and that any such transfer would be null and void", argued Mr. Nariman."But mines and their leases have been dealt with under a Central statute", pointed out the CJ again."Just in case, there is a dispute on whether allowing mining in the region would damage the eco-sensitive zone, we want a report on this aspect by experts. It is an important issue and the court is not equipped to decide it", continued the CJ."We have submitted a report on this. But certainly, the Court may appoint experts. We have no issues", assured Mr. Nariman. "It is an extremely important issue. We have no problems. Anyone may be appointed. There is no difficulty", agreed Dr. Singhvi."Should we ask (senior advocate) ADN Rao? He is familiar with the experts?", asked the CJ, also venturing the name of a Gujarat official for selection to this court-appointed committee."There is also the Director of the Wildlife Institute of India, Dhananjai Mohan", continued the CJ."There is also M. K. Jiwrajka (who has been a Member of the Central Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court). Then, there is Ajay Desai who has already been appointed earlier", suggested Mr. Nariman.At this point, the AG interjected to say that has to be heard before anything is decided upon."We are only considering names, not passing any orders", said the CJ."Each of the mines is atleast 22 km away from the eco-sensitive zone", began the AG."Some are closer", pointed out the CJ."What kind of mining people do has an effect of diverting the water from below the forest level to the mines", continued the judge."In connection with the proposal for opening commercial mining, the Cheif Secretaries of the 5 states concerned were called for a discussion...there is also a letter of the CM of Jharkhand, where he has described it as a "bold, historic step". He said that he is "not averse to the competitive level" and expressed a desire "to work in tandem with the GOI"...He had raised concerns about the "tribal restrictions", how "international players won't be able to participate" as of now, and that "the domestic players are also facing a liquidity crunch"....he had even mentioned a 'moratorium'", advanced the AG.He submitted that 15 days before the suit was filed, a writ petition had been filed by the state. "Their prayer in the writ petition was totally contrary to the relief sought in this suit...there they had sought a writ commanding the respondents to immediately withhold the launch of the auction for commercial coal mining, as scheduled for 18.6.2020, for 6-9 months or until such time the global investment climate improves post the lockdown so that the state can maximise the revenue from the natural resources"."There was nothing about the environment in that! Then, they said the mines are in the midst of forest sanctuaries. I filed my counter affidavit to that. Then, they said the mines are n the middle of environmental zones! But they have themselves admitted that the mines are atleast 20-23 km away! If even this is prohibited, the industry and the development of the country will seriously suffer! No court would want that", urged the AG."The whole problem with your approach is that there can be no economic value put on the forest. On timber, yes, but not on a forest. We don't want to stop the development of the country, but the natural wealth cannot be...

[Coal Block Auction] 'Between Centre And Jharkhand Govt, Our Anxiety Is That Resources Not Be Depleted': CJI Bobde

Mehal Jain

Tags