Even as the Supreme Court of India prepares to hear environmental activist Dilip Nath’s writ petition (IA No. 125409 of 2025) on July 30 against illegal stone mining quarries in Assam, the name of notorious businessman Ranbir Singh Gandhi, son of Kartar Singh Gandhi, of M/s Hills Trade Agencies (respondent number 20 in Nath’s petition) crops up prominently in the case.
Nath’s writ petition, for intervention by the Supreme Court to stop illegal stone mining across 7 forest reserves, proposed forest reserves, and deemed forest areas of Assam, names RS Gandhi as one of the chief contractors engaged in the illegal mining activities.
The petition cites the landmark 1995 case of TN Godavarman Thirumulpad vs Union of India concerning the definition and protection of forests. It had challenged illegal timber operations and sought to clarify the scope of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. The Supreme Court's interpretation on December 12, 1996 expanded the definition of forest to include areas recorded as forests in government records, regardless of ownership, and also areas matching the dictionary definition of a forest.
The petition notes that, “These violations are not merely isolated or administrative lapses but are symptomatic of a deeper failure in environmental governance in Assam. They reflect a sustained pattern of regulatory evasion, with forest land being diverted or exploited without compliance with the statutory prerequisites of Stage-II Forest Clearance, formal diversion orders, or payment of statutory dues such as Net Present Value and Compensatory Afforestation charges.”
On receipt of the petition, the Supreme Court on May 30 ordered a stop to all illegal stone mining activities and instructed the Assam Government to launch an investigation into the alleged illegal quarries. It also ordered the Ministry of Environment and Assam Government to file a reply.
However, the locals claim that the stone mining activities continue unchecked and truckload after truckload of mined/crushed stones was seen leaving the quarries. The contractors have become so emboldened that even journalists investigating the illegal activities were attacked and also allegedly murdered by their goons, and voices which rose against them silenced.
Based on satellite images, Nath alleged in a press conference in Nagaon on May 16 that RS Gandhi has been illegally operating stones quarries in the Sonaikuchi reserve forest under Nagaon forest division. Under proposal No. FP/AS/QRY/27/02/2017, Gandhi was allotted a 1-hectare area of the reserve forest on August 22, 2017 to carry out stone mining at Jagiroad Stone Quarry (No.F2). However, Nath alleges that Gandhi not only progressed the mining area well beyond the allowed limits to about 30 hectares but also continues to mine in spite of the expiry of the permit on August 21, 2018, and no new clearance being issued.
It is alleged that he had also sought permission to change the status of the nearby plains but as it was a 1st class protected area, he was denied.
Apart from RS Gandhi’s M/s Hills Trade Agencies (Applicant in Proposal No. FP/AS/Others/27091/2017 for Jagiroad Stone Mahal), others named in Nath’s petition include contractors Debesh Chandra Roy (Applicant in Proposal No. FP/AS/QRY/27026/2017 for Tokrabandha Hill Stone Quarry No. 2), Bono Das (Applicant in Proposal No. FP/AS/QRY/27223/2017 for Chitalmari Stone Quarry No. 2), Oliur Rahman Laskar (Applicant in Proposal No. FP/AS/QRY/27131/2017 for Modertoli Stone Mining No. 2), Md Farhan Uddin (Applicant in Proposal No. FP/AS/QRY/27142/2017 for Modertoli Stone Mining No. 4), Ziaur Rahman (Applicant in Proposal No. FP/AS/Others/27092/2017 for Bipin Stone Mahal), Jayanta Kumar Laskar (Applicant in Proposal No. FP/AS/Others/27117/2017 of Tapatjuri Stone Mahal No. 1), Biswajit Banik (Applicant in Proposal No. FP/AS/QRY/37270/2018 for Baghara Stone Quarry), Ratul Chandra Bordoloi (Applicant in Proposal No. FP/AS/QRY/37270/2018 for Baghara Stone Quarry, Dhariwal Buildtech Limted , apart from Union of India , State of Assam, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (HoFF), Assam, Directorate of Geology and Mining, divisional forest officers of Dhubri, Goalpara, Nagaon, and Hojai (South Nagaon) divisions, Assam State Pollution Control Board, Central Pollution Control Board, and State Environment Impact Assessment Authority.
The contractors have been accused of both extending mining operations beyond the permitted areas and using fake certificates of permission. For example, Oliur Rahman Laskar had obtained permission and environmental clearance to mine 1 hectare at Modertoli Stone Quarry-2 in the Doboka forest reserve under Nagaon South/Hojai forest reserve for 5 years from August 25, 2017. Although his permit ended in 2022, he allegedly continues to excavate beyond the permitted limits showing fake documents, leading to deforestation deep inside protected forests.
The 11 mines which the petition alleges to be operating in contravention of the provisions of the Forest (Conservation) Act 1980, the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act 1957, and the Environment (Protection) Act 1986 are Tokrabandha Hill Stone Quarry No. 2, Chitalmari Stone Quarry No. 2, Modertoli Stone Mahal No. 2, Modertoli Stone Mahal No. 4, Bipin Stone Mahal, Tapatjuri Stone Mahal No. 1, Dholpahar Stone Mahal No. 1, Jagiroad Stone Quarry No. F(2), Jagiroad Stone Quarry No. F(1), Baghara Stone Quarry, and Gopeswar Stone Quarry No. 3.
The forest tracks where the violations are alleged are Tokrabandha Proposed Reserved Forest (Dhubri Division), Chitalmari Reserved Forest (Goalpara Division), Doboka Reserved Forest (Nagaon South/Hojai Division), Tetelia Baghara Reserved Forest (Nagaon Division), Sonaikuchi Reserved Forest (Nagaon Division), Kondoli Proposed Reserved Forest (Nagaon Division), and Dhulpahar Proposed Reserved Forest (Nagaon Division) along with several areas of deemed forests.
RS Gandhi and co. have surprisingly been able to not only continue mining activities with fake challans and certificates but also exceed the permitted amount of stone to be excavated, right under the nose of forest officials. Dilip Nath urged the Assam Chief Minister and the Forest Minister to launch a probe to identify the lapses which Gandhi has been exploiting and the bring the guilty to justice.
Nath also alleged deep-rooted corruption in the forest divisions and district administrations as such brazen and open defiance of strict norms associated with protected forests was not possible without higher officials being in cohort.
The situation turned murkier with the arrest of the petitioner, activist Dilip Nath, on July 6, charging him with masterminding an attack on journalists investigating illegal sand and stone mining operations in the Pashnoi area of Hugrajuli in Sonitpur district on June 29. Nath was also accused of misusing RTI activism while he was also actually a beneficiary of the illegal mining operations. It was alleged that he ran a blackmail racket, using RTI applications and a dubious affiliation with a portal called NE Bharat to extort individuals and obstruct investigations.
This is not the first time that RS Gandhi’s name has cropped up in such cases. The notorious businessman and his gang are infamous in Assam for profiteering through illegal means and at the cost of the environment. Both RS Gandhi and his son Chiranjeet Gandhi have been named in several cases of corruption, tax evasion, illegal mining, and other unlawful activities in Assam, even through their primary business of bamboo trading.
The Gandhis have been involved with Assam through their businesses since 1993. He and his son, Charanjit Singh Gandhi, had agreements with the NC Hills Autonomous Council to supply bamboo. According to reports, their company, Hills Trade Agencies, is the largest bamboo trading company in India, primarily operating in Assam.
Reports said that Gandhi has now started illegal mining activities in the Panimara area of Karbi Anglong. It has been alleged that Gandhi had obtained permission from Diphu court to set up a stone quarry in an area of 65 bighas. RS Gandhi’s ‘Singh Brother’s Stone Crusher’ and ‘Hills Trade Agencies’ obtained 3 annual contracts for mining 84000 cubic meters of stones in Panimara No. 1, 70000 cc in Panimara No. 2, and 1,46,000 cc of stones in Panimara No. 3. However, when blasting operations failed in Panimara No. 1 and No. 2, Singh used the contracts for these two places to illegally increase operation in Panimara No. 3.
Additionally, although he had permission to transport only 10 cm stones from the site, he allegedly extracted 12 cm stones. He has also been accused of using 20 to 25 dumpers to make 20 trips of each dumper using a single challan for a single dumper. This tax evasion has been costing the state revenue in lakhs daily. Environmental activists allege that this was simply not possible without the involvement of the Diphu DFO and other higher officials of the forest range.
Despite these allegations, trucks continue making trips from the stone quarry to places like Tezpur airport and Koliabhomora bridge.
It is appalling that despite repeated petitions and complaints by activists like Nath and journalists who are endangering life and limb to bring to focus these cases of illegal stone mining and deforestation which are bound to have devastating impacts on the environment, contractors like RS Gandhi are openly looting not just the natural resources of Assam but also the state treasury. Even as the case has reached the floor of the Supreme Court, the seeming helplessness of the entire state machinery against these criminals is shocking and worrying.
With the higher officials remaining tight lipped or in denial of illegal stone mining being blatantly carried out, Assam environmentalists and forest activists now pin their hopes on the top court of India. It remains to be seen if the Supreme Court stops RS Gandhi and others like him from destroying the forests and hills of Assam when it hears Dilip Nath’s petition on July 30.
ALSO READ:
ALSO WATCH: