Kochi: The High Court has directed the chief secretary to forward the petition filed by Brilla Georgemember of the Kottayam district panchayat, challenging the removal of mineral sand from the Thottappally Weir in Alappuzha, to the secretary of the department concerned for appropriate decision.
The court further directed the Secretary of the department concerned to consider the issues raised by the petitioner in the light of an earlier order of the division on a related petition and take an appropriate decision. The bench, comprising Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice Manu, ruled on public interest litigation (PIL) filed by George with these directions.
The state government had earlier issued an order to remove sand from the Thottappally spillway during the rainy season to mitigate flood risks. This measure was upheld by the High Court as an apath-dharma (emergency) action. In his petition, George alleged that mining and trading of atomic minerals at the spillway had continued under the guise of disaster management, despite the absence of emergencies like those in 2018 or 2019. He also argued that such mining requires five licenses, two of which are linked. to atomic energy regulations and claimed that the state government had misused the recommendations of MS Swaminathan Foundation and IIT Madras to justify illegal mining. He also sought a directive to hand over the probe to the central investigating agencies.
During the hearing, the bench observed that the petitioner did not rely on legal provisions but raised questions requiring expertise in the matter. The court orally questioned whether George had any expertise in mining or atomic energy and how he obtained the information cited in his petition. George’s lawyer responded that the documents were in the public domain.
The state and other defendants pointed out that a division court had previously rejected a similar motion in which these arguments had already been raised. However, considering the importance of the issues and the lack of expertise of the petitioner, the bench directed that the petition be forwarded to the chief secretary, who in turn shall forward it to the secretary of the department concerned for further action.