Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday sought a status report on illegal mining in Jalandhar, Moga, and Ludhiana over claims of rampant unlawful mining. The court directed the Punjab government to submit a detailed status report on claims that widespread illegal mining is taking place across the three districts.
The court ordered authorities in the state to step in immediately wherever such activity is found to be taking place.
The order was passed by a Division Bench consisting of Acting Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor while hearing a public interest litigation filed by Sandeep Singh.
The court, while taking cognisance of the plea, noted that the petition centred on unchecked illegal mining across the three districts mentioned above.
It then asked the state to file a response before the case is next taken up, stating that a status report should be submitted by counsel for the state ahead of the following hearing.
The bench also passed an interim direction requiring authorities to intervene where illegal extraction is taking place.
Officials have been directed to use every possible means available at their disposal to curb the activity if they come across such instances. The case has been posted for further hearing on September 2, by which date the state is required to place its response to the petition’s allegations before the court.
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