Disposed¶8

Baban Paul v. the State of West Bengal and Ors.

Calcutta HC4 Jul 2024WPA(P)/247/2024

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

PIL; illegal sand mining; river Damodar; Iswarda; Tirat; dredging; de-silting; no permission/tender; WBMDTCL letter 22.03.2024; stockyard material lifting by 31.03.2024; handover to Department of Irrigation and Waterways; allegation not factually established; District Magistrate Bankura; strict vigil; matter disposed of; T. S. Sivagnanam CJ; Hiranmay Bhattacharyya J; 04.07.2024.

What did the court decide?

Direction to the District Magistrate, Bankura (second respondent) to instruct its officers to maintain strict vigil of the area to ensure no illegal sand mining takes place within the areas pointed out by the writ petitioner; the matter stands disposed of. ¶8

Baban Paul Vs the State of West Bengal and Ors. — Calcutta HC (2024) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

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Issue for consideration

Whether illegal sand mining was being carried out at locations where no permission was granted or tender invited. +1 more

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Court's answer

On the basis of the WBMDTCL letter dated 22.03.2024, the court found that no mining operation has been carried on; what was carried on was a dredging/de-silting operation on river Damodar at Iswarda and Tirat.

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Ratio / Principle

The petitioner's allegation of illegal sand mining in other areas under the garb of the dredging and de-silting operation at Tirat appears not to have been factually established before the court in the writ petition.

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Key takeaways

The District Magistrate of the concerned district, namely the second respondent/District Magistrate, Bankura, is to direct its officers to maintain strict vigil of the area so as to ensure that no illegal sand mining takes place within the areas pointed out by the writ petitioner.ratio¶7

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Public interest writ petition (WPA(P)/247/2024, Baban Paul v. The State of West Bengal and Ors., disposed 04.07.2024 by T. S. Sivagnanam, CJ and Hiranmay Bhattacharyya, J) alleging illegal sand mining at locations where no permission was granted or tender invited. The advocate for WBMDTCL produced a letter dated 22.03.2024 from its Managing Director to the Secretary, Department of Irrigation and Waterways, from which the court saw that no mining operation had been carried on, only dredging/de-silting on river Damodar at Iswarda and Tirat; the dredging work in both projects was completed, with contractors instructed to lift remaining stockyard material within 31.03.2024 and hand the sites back to the Department. It was submitted that the directions stood complied with and nothing remained as on date. The allegation of sand mining under the garb of the dredging/de-silting operation at Tirat appeared not factually established before the court. The District Magistrate, Bankura was directed to maintain strict vigil against illegal sand mining in the areas pointed out by the writ petitioner, and the matter was disposed of.

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04.07.2024 Item No.10 gd/ssd

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WPA(P)/247/2024 BABAN PAUL

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THE STATE OF WEST BENGAL AND ORS.

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Mr. Samiran Mandal, Mr. Abhinaba Das, Mr. Nitish Samanta ..for the Petitioner. Mr. Sk. Md. Galib, Ms. Sujata Mukherjee ..for the State. Mr. Sanjoy Saha, Mr. Subhasish Bhattacharya ..for the Respondent No.10. Mr. …………………………. ..for the Respondent No.11.

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By way of this public interest petition the petitioner alleges that illegal sand mining is being done at the location where no permission/tender was granted/invited.

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The learned advocate appearing for the West Bengal Mineral Development and Trading Corporation Limited (WBMDTCL) has produced a copy of the letter addressed by the Managing Director, WBMDTCL to the Secretary to the Government of West Bengal, Department of Irrigation and Waterways dated 22.03.2024.

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From the said letter it is seen that no mining operation has been carried on but what was carried on was dredging/de-silting operation on river Damodar at Iswarda and Tirat. The letter further states

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that the dredging work has been completed in both the projects and the contractors have accordingly been instructed to complete the lifting of remaining portion of material from the stockyard, if any, within 31.03.2024 after which the sites shall be ready for hand over to the Department of Irrigation and Waterways.

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It is submitted that the directions have been complied with and as on date there is nothing either dredging or de-silting operation.

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The allegation of the petitioner is that under the garb of dredging and de-silting operation at Tirat there are illegal mining of sand in other areas.

¶13

This appears to have not been factually established before this court in this writ petition.

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Needless to state that the authorities concerned more particularly the District Magistrate of the concerned district, namely, the 2^nd respondent/ District Magistrates, Bankura shall direct its officers to maintain strict vigil of the area so as to ensure that no illegal sand mining takes place within the areas pointed out by the writ petitioner.

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Accordingly, the matter stands disposed of.

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(T. S. SIVAGNANAM) CHIEF JUSTICE

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(HIRANMAY BHATTACHARYYA, J.)

Baban Paul v. the State of West Bengal and Ors.

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Baban Paul v. the State of West Bengal and Ors.

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

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What the court decided

Issues for consideration

Procedural history

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