Order of the National Green Tribunal regarding Bihar Sand Mining Policy 2019. 12/12/2019

Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of Pasupati Rice Mill Pvt. Ltd. Vs The Union of India & Others dated 12/12/2019. The application is against the clauses 5 (i) and 5 (ii) and clause 6 of the Bihar Sand Mining Policy, 2019. The contention is that the state of Bihar came out with the 2019 policy without any consultative process and the policy "artificially bifurcate identified units of the river in the garb of controlling exploitation imposing unreasonable restrictions in permitting one individual or entity to have only two blocks in violation of Article 19 (1) (g) of the Constitution of India."

In response to it, the state respondents have stated that the application was not maintainable under Section 14 and/or 18 of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) Act, 2010 and that the Bihar Sand Mining Policy, 2019 has been devised in exercise of the powers under vested under Section 15 of the of the Mines & Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 under which the States have been empowered to issue subordinate legislations.

The NGT while dismissing the applications said that the state has the power to "make policies, pass orders, issue administrative rules, circulars, instructions etc. in exercise of its executive powers so long as those are not violative of the constitutional and statutory provisions."And as far as the grievance of restricting grant of leases only upto two to an individual in the 2019 Policy was concerned, the NGT categorically said that the matter was not within the jurisdication of the Tribunal to consider.