ILLEGAL MINING IN UTTAR PRADESH: ALLAHABAD HIGH COURT ORDERS CBI PROBE

The Allahabad high court on Thursday ordered a CBI probe into the illegal mining being carried out in various places across the state. The court asked the CBI to investigate all such matters and submit its preliminary report within six weeks on illegal mining activities and involvement of officials. The court has fixed September 8 as the next date of hearing.

The bench comprising acting chief justice VK Shukla and justice MC Tripathi passed the order while hearing public interest litigations (PILs) filed by Vijay Kumar Dwivedi and several others.

The petitioners’ contention was that mining leases of several lessees had been unlawfully extended by authorities even though it expired on May 31, 2012. The extension had been granted on the ground that during the lease period the lessees could not mine on their land because of court’s stay order.

The allegations in all the PILs was that the DMs were filing false affidavit that there was no illegal mining going on in their area though the fact was that such operations were going on with the help of mining officers who were hand-in-gloves with the state government. In an earlier date, the high court had directed principal secretary (mining) and other concerned officers to ensure that illegal excavation of mines and minerals does not happen in the state but not much was done in this regard.

The affidavit filed by principal secretary (mining) in the high court was perused by the judges and the court was not satisfied with it. The bench remarked that principal secretary has filed the affidavit in a casual manner, that too on wrong foundations.