KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Thursday imposed a cost of Rs 10 lakh on a private clay mining company - English Indian Clays Ltd, Thiruvananthapuram - for abusing the process of the court and directed it to pay the amount to the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF) in two months.
The court also directed the company to pay Rs 10,000 each to the residents near the company site who had challenged the mining activities of the firm in the High Court.
Stating the company was not entitled to carry out any mining activities in the area, the court directed the District Collector to take over the property.The HC held the company approaching the court seeking police protection without first securing Environmental Clearance (EC) coupled with its failure to implead those who had moved the High Court against its mining activities, constitute a clear abuse of the process of the court.
The court said the company had been carrying out illegal mining even before 2013 when petition seeking police protection was filed by the company. In fact, the Environment Clearance certificate was a mandatory requirement under the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) notification.The Bench also directed the state government to initiate action against the company officials and erring state government officers under the Environment Protection Act. It also sought a report on the steps taken in this regard within two months.
The court observed there was a tacit approval by the state government and its officers for carrying out illegal quarrying by the company. It observed a lease was executed on the basis of the order of the government permitting quarrying in a property. The lease deed was executed without verifying whether the lessee company had obtained prior EC with respect to the property as per the EIA notification of 1994 and 2006. The Principal Secretary had issued a stop memo on February 28, 2014. However, the Principal Secretary cancelled the same by an order issued on March 29, 2014.
The court also directed the Director, Mining and Geology, to depute two officers from the Regional Controller of Mining to conduct an inspection at the site and assess the illegal extraction of China clay for recovering 100 per cent of the value of the material excavated from the land.
