The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Meghalaya government to deposit the ₹100 crore fine imposed on it by the National Green Tribunal for failing to curb illegal coal mining with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). A bench of justices Ashok Bhushan and K.M.Joseph directed the state administration to hand over the illegally extracted coal to Coal India Limited (CIL) which will auction it and deposit the funds with the state government. The National Green Tribunal had fined the Meghalaya government on January 4. During the hearing, the State government had admitted that a large number of mines were operating illegally in the northeastern state. The apex court had earlier refused to allow miners to transport extracted coal lying at various sites in Meghalaya.

Source: The Hindu July 03, 2019 06:36 UTC