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2025 Supreme(Online)(NGT) 1566
NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL NEW DELHI (PRINCIPAL BENCH)
Prakash Shrivastava, Chairperson, Sudhir Agarwal, Judicial Member, A. Senthil Vel, Expert Member
Ajayveer Singh – Appellant
Versus
State of Uttar Pradesh – Respondent
ORIGINAL APPLICATION NO. 1190/2024 (I.A. NO. 475/2024)
For the Respondents:Mr. Sanjay Upadhyay, Senior Advocate with Mr. Saumitra Jaiswal, Mr. Rohit Sthalekar, Mr. Surya Gupta and Ms. Anukriti Bajpai, Advocates for Respondent No. 6
Ms. Suhasini Sen, Ms. Masooma Rizvi and Ms. Surbhi, Advocates for MoEF&CC
Ms. Priyanka Swami, Advocate for SEIAA UP
Mr. Mukesh Verma and Ms. Vatsala Tripathi, Advocates for DM, Baghpat
Mr. Amit Shukla, Mr. Amit Kumar, Mr. Atul Mishra and Mr. Chaitanya Kansra, Advocates for UPPCB
Valid District Survey Report (DSR) approved by SEIAA/DEIAA mandatory prerequisite for sand mining auctions/leases; State amendments without statutory appraisal invalid; EC thereon vitiated (42 words).
Headnote:(A) Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 - EIA Notification, 2006 (as amended) - Para 7(iii), Appendix X - Sustainable Sand Mining Management Guidelines, 2016 - Enforcement & Monitoring Guidelines for Sand Mining, 2020 - Para 4.1.1 - Preparation of District Survey Report (DSR) mandatory before e-auction/tender/Letter of Intent for sand mining - DSR must be approved by competent Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA/DEIAA) after appraisal by SEAC/DEAC - Amendment to existing DSR by State mining authorities without statutory appraisal/approval invalid - Mining leases granted without valid DSR for specific areas illegal - Environmental clearance granted on basis of invalid DSR vitiated - Replenishment study prerequisite - Supreme Court/NGT precedents mandate prior valid DSR (paras 104, 117, 118, 122).
(B) NGT Act, 2010 - Sections 14, 15, 18 - Locus standi - Person concerned about environmental violations has standing as 'aggrieved person' without personal injury (para 30). Limitation - Section 15(3) (5 years) applies to relief/restitution claims, not Section 14(3) (6 months) (paras 34-46). Maintainability - Challenge to auction notices (not appealable EC/consents) valid under original jurisdiction (para 47).
(C) Deepak Kumar v. State of Haryana (2012) 4 SCC 629 - All mining leases require prior EC irrespective of area - SSMG-2016/EMGSM-2020 enforce cluster approach, replenishment studies, public consultation for DSR (paras 71-73).
Facts of the case:
Applicant challenged e-auction notices (09.11.2022 etc.) by District Magistrate for sand mining in specified villages without valid DSR - Areas not in 2017 DSR (valid till 2022); later 'included' by State mining authorities sans SEIAA approval - Respondent obtained lease, EC, consents; NGT stayed operations (10.12.2024).
Findings of Court:
Issues on locus, limitation, maintainability decided for applicant - Mining illegal absent valid DSR-approved areas; State amendments invalid; EC vitiated; compensation for past violations.
Issues: (I) Locus standi? (II) Limitation? (III) OA vs Appeal? (IV) Valid DSR basis for auction/lease? (V) Relief? (paras 27, 48).
Ratio Decidendi: DSR foundational for EC application/appraisal; must follow Appendix X procedure with SEIAA approval; unapproved State amendments void; illegal mining restrained, compensation assessed (paras 102-104, 117, 122-123).
Result: OA allowed - Mining restrained; UPPCB to compute/recover compensation for violations; rejuvenation plan by DM/UPPCB/CPCB (paras 124-125).
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. challenge to illegal sand mining auctions without dsr. (Para 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 10) |
| 2. prior ec mandatory; dsr and replenishment study required. (Para 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9) |
| 3. respondents claim dsr amendments and ec approvals. (Para 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24) |
| 4. locus standi and limitation upheld for applicant. (Para 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34) |
| 5. oa falls under section 15 ngt act; within limitation. (Para 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47) |
| 6. mining leases lack valid dsr approval. (Para 48 , 49 , 50 , 51) |
| 7. eia 2006 mandates prior ec procedure. (Para 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68) |
| 8. eia amendments enforce dsr and ec requirements. (Para 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 , 79 , 80 , 81 , 82) |
| 9. dsr approval by eiaa mandatory for validity. (Para 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 , 87 , 88 , 89) |
| 10. ssmg-2016/emgsm-2020 require valid dsr. (Para 90 , 91 , 92 , 93 , 94 , 95 , 96 , 97 , 98 , 99 , 100 , 101 , 102 , 103 , 104) |
| 11. supreme court/ngt affirm dsr as ec prerequisite. (Para 105 , 106 , 107 , 108 , 109 , 110 , 111 , 112 , 113 , 114 , 115 , 116 , 117 , 118 , 119) |
| 12. mining illegal without valid dsr; compensation ordered. (Para 120 , 121 , 122 , 123 , 124 , 125) |
JUDGMENT
BY HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE SUDHIR AGARWAL, JUDICIAL MEMBER
1. The Original Application (hereinafter referred to as ‘OA’) has been filed by Ajayveer Singh, resident of State of Haryana and claims to be deeply concerned with regard to environmental issues particularly alleged damage caused to the environment due to illegal mining and in violation of environmental laws. He has invoked jurisdiction of Tribunal under Section 14 read with Section 18 of National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 (hereinafter referred to as ‘NGT Act, 2010’). The applicant has challenged the e-auction cum e-tender inviting notice dated 09.11.2022 (page 97 of paper book) as corrected vide e-auction cum e-tender notice dated 18.11.2022 (page 96 of paper book) initiated by District Magistrate, Baghpat in respect to certain areas in villages Chhaprauli Khadar and Kotana Khadar for sand mining without preparing a valid District Survey Report (hereinafter referred to as ‘DSR’) in the light of the mandate under Environment Impact Assessment Notification dated 14.09.2006 (hereinafter referred to as ‘EIA 2006’) as amended from time to time read with Sustainable Sand Mining Management Guidelines 2016 (hereinafter referred to as ‘SSMG-2016’) and Enforcement and Monitoring Guidelines for Sand Mining 2020 (hereinafter referred to as ‘EMGSM-2020’).
2. Applicant has further assailed subsequent e-auction cum e-tender notice for village Kotana Khadar issued on 02.01.2023 (page 102 of paper book), for village Kotana Khadar dated 02.01.2023 (page 107 of paper book) as corrected by corrigendum dated 02.01.2023 (page 108 of paper book), for villages Badrakha Khadar and Gauripur Khadar dated 03.04.2023 (page 109 of paper book) and villages Badrakha Khadar and Gauripur Khadar dated 03.04.2023 (page 115 of paper book). It is said that all subsequent actions taken by District Magistrate, Ghaziabad with regard to these sand mining activities are illegal and in violation of environmental laws.
3. The facts in brief stated in OA are that DSR in respect of District Baghpat was prepared in November 2017 showing mining queries in the district with location, area and period of validity as under:
Table 15: List of Proposed Mining Quarries in the District with Location, Area and Period of Validity
| Sr. No. | Mauza | Gata No. | Area |
| 1. | Gauripur | 1/2/1 | 34.65 Acres (14.02 Ha) |
| 2. | Badarakha Khadar | 1/2 | 20.00 Acres (8.09 Ha) |
| 3. | Chhaprauli Khadar | 1/2 | 50.00 Acres (20.23 Ha) |
| 4. | Sankroud Khadar | 634 Mi | 48 Acres (19.42 Ha) |
| 5. | Subhanpur | 212, 216-224, 231-246, 378, 379, 381-385, 391,392 | 39.55 Acres (16.00 Ha) |
Table 16: List of running short term Sand permit in the District with Location, Area and Period of Validity
| Sr. No. | Mauza | Area (Ha) | Per |
