Madras High Court slams ex-Geology chief for illegal revival of mining licence
CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has severely criticised an IAS officer, who had served as Commissioner of Geology and Mining, for issuing a 'completely fraudulent, aberrational and unconscionably illegal' order to revoke the temporary suspension of quarrying licence of a lease holder in Tiruppur district, who was slapped with a meagre penalty of Rs 10.40 crore for illegal mining, without following due legal procedures.
The officer, J Jayakanthan, is currently serving as secretary of water resources department. He had, in his capacity as Commissioner of Geology and Mining in 2022, revoked the suspension of licence and permitted lease holder R Ramakrishnan to resume mining operations by paying an initial fine of Rs 30 lakh and the remaining amount in instalments.
Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy, in a recent judgment, remarked, 'In any event, the order of the second respondent is completely fraudulent, aberrational and unconscionably illegal and it is an affront to the environment as well as to the entire set of judgments of the Supreme Court of India on the matter. This course of action is taken to defraud the government of a significant sum of money, certainly more than Rs 78 crore.'
The orders were passed on a petition filed by Ramakrishnan praying for quashing the December 6, 2024 GO issued by the secretary of natural resources department to set aside the GO issued by Jayakanthan dated September 26, 2022.
Ramakrishnan was found to have illegally mined 39,405 cubic metres of topsoil and weathered rock, 25 times more than the permitted level of 1,575 cbms. The illegal mining of rough stones accounts for 3, 21, 811 cbms. He was also found to have committed similar offences in another quarry for which the licence had already expired.
The respondents, including P Vijayakumar, an affected farmer and R Sathish Kumar, of Tamilaga Vivasayigal Pathukappu Sangam, submitted that the total fine for the illegal minerals would work out to a minimum of Rs 84 crore and maximum of Rs 180 crore.
However, the then commissioner had let the lease holder off by slapping a meagre Rs 10.40 crore by flouting the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Minor Minerals Concession Rules and the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, they submitted.
Refusing to quash the order of the secretary of the natural resources department, the judge directed the jurisdictional sub-collector to file a private complaint initiating prosecution (criminal action) against the accused persons for committing the violations.
He directed the secretary of natural resources department to issue notice to the lease holder over premature termination of the existing lease agreement and for recovery of the value of the minerals with appropriate penalty for seigniorage fee.
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