Cuttack: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has imposed a total fine of Rs 2 lakh on the Odisha Chief Secretary and seven other government officials for repeatedly failing to ensure representation before the tribunal in a case concerning alleged excess and illegal sand mining in Angul district.
The East Zone Bench of the NGT, comprising Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi, Judicial Member, and Expert Members A Senthil Vel and Ishwar Singh, directed each of the eight respondents to pay Rs 25,000, citing delays in the proceedings caused by their non-appearance.
NGT Imposes Rs 25,000 Fine on Each Official
The eight respondents who have been directed to pay the fine are:
- Chief Secretary, Odisha
- Principal Secretary, Water Resources Department
- Deputy Director of Mines, Talcher Circle
- Regional Transport Officer, Angul
- Tehsildar, Talcher
- Tehsildar, Parajang
- Superintendent of Police, Angul
- Inspector-in-Charge, Talcher Police Station
The tribunal directed the officials to deposit the costs with the NGT Registrar in Kolkata within one month.
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Case Concerns Alleged Illegal Sand Mining in Angul
The case relates to allegations of mining beyond the permitted lease area and excess extraction at Nizgarhzami Sand Quarry, locally known as Gopinathpur Sand Quarry, located in the Brahmani River under Talcher tehsil.
A Talcher-based NGO approached the tribunal over the alleged violations through advocates Sankar Prasad Pani and Ashutosh Padhy.
NGT Takes Exception to Repeated Non-Appearance
The tribunal noted that the respondents had initially appeared through the state counsel, but none had appeared on their behalf during the last few hearings.
In its September 28 order, a web copy of which was uploaded on Tuesday, the bench observed that the absence of counsels representing the eight respondents had resulted in unnecessary adjournments and delayed the resolution of environmental issues involved in the case.
The NGT said such “deliberate non-appearance” needed to be addressed by imposing exemplary costs.
The officials have been given another opportunity to file their responses within one month.
Tribunal Stresses State’s Environmental Obligations
The NGT emphasised that proceedings before the tribunal cannot be treated as ordinary adversarial litigation where concerned parties can remain absent and face ex-parte proceedings.
The bench noted that the state and its instrumentalities have constitutional and statutory obligations to ensure compliance with environmental norms.
Accordingly, government authorities are required to:
- File replies containing relevant details.
- Remain represented through authorised counsel or representatives.
- Comply with notices issued by the tribunal.
- Ensure proper representation during proceedings.
The bench also observed that the State of Odisha and some of its instrumentalities were “not generally appearing before this Tribunal” and were failing to file responses despite receiving notices.
Chief Secretary and Advocate General Had Earlier Been Informed
The tribunal said the issue of non-compliance had previously been brought to the attention of the Chief Secretary and the Advocate General of Odisha.
They had been asked to issue appropriate instructions to ensure compliance with tribunal notices and proper representation in proceedings.
The Angul Collector was not fined because the concerned tehsildar appeared on his behalf through videoconferencing.
Next Hearing Scheduled for December 4
The NGT has directed the eight officials to deposit the Rs 25,000 cost imposed on each of them within one month and file their responses within the same period.
The matter is scheduled to come up for further hearing on December 4.
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