Staff Reporter
Guwahati: In a recent hearing by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), Eastern Zone Bench, Kolkata, the Tribunal pulled up the District Magistrate (DM) of Bajali in Assam for not collecting penalty from violator of mining laws. The Bajali DM mentioned that a penalty was imposed on the violators but conceded that the penalty has not been recovered.
The Tribunal was also miffed that no copy of the FIR in the illegal mining case was submitted before it.
The NGT Corum of Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi as Judicial Member and Ishwar Singh as Expert Member conducted a physical hearing with hybrid mode in Original Application No.196/2024/EZ. The applicants filed the original application complaining about illegal sand mining on the Kaldiya River located at Chaibari Village, in the district of Bajali, Assam.
During the instant hearing, an affidavit dated November 26, 2025, was filed by the District Commissioner, Bajali, which was taken on record by the tribunal.
The Corum stated that they have gone through the affidavit and found that information regarding the registration of the FIR and the filing of the charge sheet has been given, but a copy of the FIR and the charge sheet has not been enclosed with the same. Moreover, the quantity of the illegally extracted mineral is not mentioned, and there is no mention regarding the imposition of any penalty for the extraction of illegally mined material.
During the hearing, Mridul Kumar Das, District Magistrate (DM) of Bajali, and Suman Chakraborty, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Bajali, appeared through video conferencing (VC), and they made submissions regarding action taken to prevent illegal mining in the present case and also assured the tribunal of taking further requisite action.
In the course of hearing, Bajali DM, Mridul Kumar Das, mentioned that a penalty was imposed on the violators, but he conceded that the penalty has not been recovered.
The counsel for ASPCB submitted that the information sought was not given to ASPCB, and the Board will file an action-taken report within four weeks.
The NGT Corum also stated that the Bajali DM and SSP are exempted from further appearance in the case, subject to any further order to the contrary. The case was listed for further consideration on February 23, 2026.
It should be mentioned here that the tribunal had earlier constituted a Joint Committee which submitted its report.
In its earlier hearing in the present case, the Tribunal had observed that the person who indulged in illegal mining has been identified. A written complaint dated July 28, 2024, was made by Executive Magistrate, Bajali, for registration of FIR against him. However, a copy of the FIR was not placed on record. In fact, the tribunal observed, there is nothing on record to show that on receipt of a complaint from the Executive Magistrate, Bajali, an FIR was registered and an investigation was carried out promptly.
The Tribunal also noted that illegal mining of sand from riverbeds amounts to the offence of theft punishable under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code, 1860/Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and the police are bound to register an FIR immediately on receipt of information regarding illegal mining.
The matter needs to be looked into by the Director General of Police, Assam, for issuance of appropriate instructions in this regard, the tribunal had noted then.
The Tribunal had also sought the presence of the Bajali DM and SSP before it physically or through VC on the next date of hearing, as it was termed to be essential for assisting the Tribunal in just and proper adjudication of the questions involved in the present case, and accordingly, they appeared through VC in the instant hearing.
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