CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has strongly condemned a senior IAS officer, formerly the Commissioner of Geology and Mining, for passing a “completely fraudulent, aberrational and unconscionably illegal” order that benefited a lease holder involved in large-scale illegal mining in Tiruppur district.
The officer in question, J Jayakanthan currently serving as Secretary of the Water Resources Department, was censured for his 2022 decision to revoke the temporary suspension of a quarrying licence granted to lease holder R Ramakrishnan. This decision was made without following due legal procedures and permitted the resumption of mining operations upon payment of an initial fine of Rs 30 lakh, with the remainder to be paid in instalments. The total penalty imposed at the time was only Rs 10.40 crore.
Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy, in a scathing judgment, noted: “The order of the second respondent is completely fraudulent, aberrational, and unconscionably illegal. It is an affront to the environment and to the entire body of Supreme Court judgments on the subject. This course of action was taken to defraud the Government of a significant sum of money certainly more than Rs 78 crore.”
The case arose from a petition filed by Ramakrishnan seeking to quash a Government Order (GO) dated 6 December 2024, issued by the Secretary of the Natural Resources Department, which had set aside Jayakanthan’s earlier GO dated 26 September 2022.
Ramakrishnan was found to have illegally mined 39,405 cubic metres of topsoil and weathered rock 25 times the permitted limit of 1,575 cubic metres. Additionally, he had extracted 3,21,811 cubic metres of rough stones and was also involved in similar violations at another quarry, where the licence had already expired.
Petitioners P Vijayakumar, an affected farmer, and R Sathish Kumar of the Thamilaga Vivasayigal Pathukappu Sangam, submitted that the total value of the illegally extracted minerals warranted a fine ranging from Rs 84 crore to Rs 180 crore. They argued that Jayakanthan had wilfully violated the Tamil Nadu Minor Minerals Concession Rules and the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act by imposing a disproportionately small penalty.
Justice Chakravarthy observed, “The order, on the face of it, is fraudulent, cheating the Government and the people of the State of their lawful dues, while leaving Mother Earth battered and bruised.”
Refusing to quash the 2024 GO of the Natural Resources Department, the Court directed the jurisdictional Sub-Collector to file a private complaint initiating criminal prosecution against the individuals involved in the violations.
The judge also ordered the Secretary of the Natural Resources Department to issue notice to the lease holder for premature termination of the existing lease agreement and to initiate recovery proceedings for the full value of the illegally extracted minerals, along with applicable penalties and seigniorage fees.
Justice Chakravarthy commended the Secretary of the Natural Resources Department and then Tiruppur District Collector Vinith for their timely and effective action in uncovering the fraudulent activities.