Illegal Mining: Supreme Court Slams MP, UP & Rajasthan Over Unregistered Vehicles
· Free Press Journal
Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Supreme Court on Tuesday criticised Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan for failing to halt the operations of unregistered and unidentified vehicles involved in illegal sand mining within the ecologically sensitive Chambal region.
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The apex court ruled that the compliance affidavits submitted by the three state governments do not satisfactorily address the issue or provide a concrete enforcement layout.
The bench initiated suo motu proceedings following the brutal murder of a 33-year-old forest guard, Harkesh Gurjar, who was run over and killed by a sand mafia tractor-trolley in Morena district on April 8, 2026, while attempting to intercept illegal transport.
According to the top court, routine steps like setting up check-posts, issuing challans, or capping fuel supplies are completely ineffective without stringent coercive actions against the operators and the underlying kingpins. The bench warned that allowing unidentified transport to operate freely inside protected sanctuary areas points to major regulatory failures and deliberate evasion of legal accountability.
Data submitted by Madhya Pradesh exposed deep gaps in ground enforcement. In the first five months of the year, more than 250 vehicles were booked under Section 192 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 for operating without registration.
However, these vehicles were easily released upon paying a fine of ?5,000, with no subsequent vehicle confiscation, permit suspension, or criminal prosecution launched against the owners or drivers.
To patch these gaps, the court emphasised that repeat vehicles must face immediate seizure and denial of release.
Madhya Pradesh informed the bench that it plans to deploy static checkpoints at eight specific locations across Bhind, Morena and Sheopur districts to improve real-time surveillance and block major transit routes used by the active mining mafia.
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