The NGT bench of Justice V R Kingaonkar and expert member D K Agrawal quashed the environment clearance (EC) and the forest clearance (FC) granted by the MoEF and the approval of Goa's Chief Warden of Wildlife to mining firm Elray Minerals and Company, saying they were "invalid, illegal and improper."
"Considering the deficiencies mentioned ... All the three impugned orders of EC, FC and Chief Warden of Wildlife are invalid, illegal and improper. All three communications will have to be, therefore, quashed as prayed.
"We are further of the opinion that the MoEF and other authorities casually granted the clearances/approvals without verification of the necessary facts and without following the due procedure" the bench said.
The "deficiencies" mentioned by the Tribunal regarding the clearances and approval granted to the mining firm were that public hearing was not conducted as per due procedure, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report was not duly obtained and authenticated, proximity of the mining project to the reserved forests and wildlife sanctuaries in the area was not ascertained, etc.
"The information submitted by the project proponent was accepted as a gospel truth by the MoEF. The MoEF on its part did not verify the correctness of the information given... Needless to say, everything appears to be fishy, based on untrue facts and inaccuracies," the bench said. (MORE)