NGT Imposes Cost on Sonbhadra DM for Delayed Illegal Mining Probe Report

The National Green Tribunal has expressed strong displeasure over delays in completing a court-mandated probe into allegations of illegal mining in Uttar Pradesh’s Sonbhadra district, directing the District Magistrate to deposit Rs. 10,000 as cost for failing to comply with repeated orders.

The case was heard by Justice Prakash Shrivastava, Chairperson and Dr. A. Senthil Vel, Expert Member on 13.11.2025.

The Bench noted that the conduct of the District Magistrate showed a lack of promptness in complying with the Tribunal’s orders, thereby contributing to delays in the proceedings.

The Joint Committee was required to investigate the extent of illegal excavation, assess whether mining had taken place midstream, and verify the existence and validity of environmental clearances.

The Tribunal recalled that on 23.04.2025 it had constituted a Joint Committee comprising the Regional Office of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, a representative of the Central Pollution Control Board, the Member Secretary of the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board and the District Magistrate of Sonbhadra, who was designated as the nodal agency.

The Committee was directed to visit the site and submit a factual report within eight weeks, which meant the report was due by 23.06.2025.

When the matter was listed on 19.08.2025, it was brought to the Tribunal’s notice that the Joint Committee had conducted the inspection on 30.06.2025 but the report was still under preparation. Counsel for the applicant objected to the delay, stating that by conducting the inspection more than two months after the Committee was constituted, the authorities had facilitated the disappearance or wiping out of the evidence of illegal mining.

Taking note of this grievance, the Tribunal had directed the District Magistrate to file an affidavit explaining why the inspection was delayed. Additional time of four weeks was granted for the preparation and filing of the Joint Committee report.

Despite these directions, the Tribunal recorded that the report did not come on record in the subsequent hearings. During the hearing on 13.11.2025, counsel appearing for the District Magistrate submitted that the report had been filed earlier that morning.

The Tribunal observed that the continuing delay showed a lack of prompt compliance, resulting in the prolonging of the proceedings and holding up further consideration of the allegations of illegal mining.

In view of the repeated non-compliance, the Tribunal imposed a cost of Rs. 10,000 on the District Magistrate, Sonbhadra, to be deposited with the National Green Tribunal Bar Association within one week. The Tribunal directed that the amount would be utilised for the upgradation of the library and other related facilities.

It further directed that, subject to payment of the cost, the office would place the District Magistrate’s reply along with the Joint Committee report on record, provided the report was defect-free.

The Tribunal has allowed all concerned parties to file their objections to the Joint Committee’s report within four weeks.

The Bench has also continued earlier interim directions until the next date of hearing, ensuring that protections already in place remain operative while objections are considered and the matter proceeds.

The case will next be heard on 28.01.2026.

Appearances: For the Applicant, Mr. Ashish Madaan, Advocate, For Respondent 11: Mr. Vivek Tankha, Senior Advocate with Mr. Gaurav Kumar Bansal, Ms. Nandita Bansal, Mr. Vipul Tiwari, Mr. Inder Dev Singh and Ms. Chandrika Upadhyay, Advs.

For UPPCB: Mr. Pradeep Misra and Mr. Daleep Dhyani, Advs.

For District Magistrate, Sonbhadra: Mr. Mukesh Verma and Ms. Vatsala Tripathi, Advs.

For SEIAA, UP: Ms. Priyanka Swami, Adv.

Case Title: Pawan Kumar v. Union of India & Others

Bench: Justice Prakash Shrivastava, Chairperson, Dr. A. Senthil Vel, Expert Member

Date of hearing: 13.11.2025