SC panel recommends Rs 150 Cr penalty on USTM, seeks land restoration

Guwahati, Sept 19: The Central Empowered Committee (CEC) of the Supreme Court on Wednesday submitted its report on the alleged illegal mining and hill cutting in Ri Bhoi and East Khasi Hills districts of Meghalaya to the apex court, with a number of recommendations, including restoration of the entire area occupied by University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM) and surrounding buildings, and a minimum fine of Rs 150 crore on the varsity for violation of forest laws.

It also recommended – in view of rampant large-scale illegal mining in Ri Bhoi – suspension of all mining, quarrying, and crushing activities in the district until a multi-disciplinary committee headed by the Additional Director General of Forests (Forest Conservation), Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) conducts a comprehensive review of all permissions, including certificates of forest/non-forest land, status of encroachment, muck disposal practices, and compliance with approved mining plans and environmental safeguards.

The CEC report concerns IA No. 125603 & 125604 of 2025 (filed in WP(C) No. 202 of 1995 (TN Godavarman vs Union of India and others) by Jitul Deka regarding alleged illegal mining and hill cutting and the consequent rampant environmental degradation in the two districts of Meghalaya and its trans-boundary impact on Assam, particularly Guwahati city and the Amchang Wildlife Sanctuary.

The CEC also asked the Meghalaya government to constitute an expert committee within one month to re-examine and harmonize the criteria for identification of ‘forests’ under the United Khasi-Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council (Management and Control of Forests) Act, 1958 and the Meghalaya Forest Regulation (Amendment) Act, 2012, in conformity with the principles laid down by the Supreme Court.

“All mining lease holders in the State of Meghalaya must, within 30 days, submit digital maps showing their lease boundaries, transport roads, waste-dump areas, and de-siltation pits. In case they fail to do so, their mining work shall be stopped automatically until the details are submitted and all records verified thereafter,” the CEC observed in its report, adding that to strengthen environmental safeguards, the SEIAA, Meghalaya, shall immediately re-appraise all environmental clearances granted earlier by the DEIAA for mining in Ri Bhoi within a period of 30 days, failing which all such mines shall close automatically.

“In all hill districts, the State of Meghalaya shall impose a seasonal moratorium from May 1 to September 30 on land-cutting, mining, levelling, and major earthworks, with emergency works permitted only on prior approval of the State Government. All land-filling and development sites shall be required to construct boulder retaining walls of at least 2 metres, progressive bunding and de-siltation sumps, ensure re-grassing/soil conservation before the monsoon, and maintain a minimum 5-metre greenbelt; in the case of high-impact sites such as stone crushers and quarry zones, a plantation buffer of at least 1 hectare shall be created and maintained,” the CEC recommended.

Asking the Meghalaya government to finalize the definition of ‘forest’ within six months, the CEC stated that “upon finalization, the State of Meghalaya shall file an affidavit before this Hon’ble Court setting out in detail the methodology to be employed for such identification, including tree enumeration, cadastral and forest maps, and expert analysis. In cases where tree enumeration is not possible on account of levelling or prior disturbance, the State shall rely on geospatial and historical imagery, and such lands shall be treated as recorded forest pending final verification. All areas so identified shall be entered into a Central Digital Registry maintained by the Forest Department of Meghalaya, which shall be publicly accessible and contain scanned primary records, KML polygons, and a verifiable audit trail.”

On the violations by USTM, the CEC observed that the university encroached upon and utilized forestland without obtaining prior approval of the Central government under Section 2 of the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980.

“The land has been diverted for the establishment of a university campus and allied projects, which are non-site-specific activities falling under the category expressly prohibited for diversion of forestland. In view of these violations, all non-forestry activities carried out on the encroached forest land shall be stopped forthwith. The entire area occupied by USTM and surrounding buildings shall be fully restored back to a normal forest within one year,” it said.

The CEC further recommended that in view of the rampant large-scale mining/hill cutting over more than 400 ha area in the areas in question, a restoration plan for the Basistha-Bahini and Dighalpani watersheds be put in place. “The Restoration Plan shall be implemented under the supervision of the MoEF&CC in a time-bound manner,” it added.