Illegal sand mining: SC seeks response from 4 states, warns of Rs 20 K fine

The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought responses from Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh within six weeks on a plea seeking investigation into illegal sand mining cases and the termination of leases of entities involved in it.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Sanjay Kumar said a fine of Rs 20,000 will be imposed if the states don't file counter affidavits in six weeks.

Though Rs 20,000 fine is not commensurate with the value of illegal sand mining alleged, it will force the states to file the affidavits, Justice Khanna said.

The bench listed the matter for November.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for petitioner M Alagarsamy, submitted that the petition dates back to 2018 and said the four states had not filed affidavits on the status of illegal sand mining despite notices being issued to them.

Bhushan, assisted by advocate Pranav Sachdeva, said massive illegal sand mining is going on. This is damaging the environment and till now only the Punjab ...