Supreme Court Warns of CBI Probe into Illegal River Mining in Rajasthan
In a blistering rebuke of administrative inaction and institutional complicity, the Supreme Court of India on Monday warned that it may transfer the investigation into rampant illegal mining and the arbitrary regularisation of mining leases along Rajasthan's Jojhari-Luni-Bandi river system to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Expressing acute displeasure with the state authorities' persistent failure to safeguard ecologically fragile riverine zones despite repeated judicial mandates, the apex court observed that local departments appear to be enabling environmental plunder rather than enforcing statutory protections. The courtroom warning underscores growing judicial impatience with regional authorities who have repeatedly circumvented environmental safeguards, placing one of western Rajasthan's most critical hydrological networks at severe risk of irreversible ecological collapse.
'Improve Functioning or Face CBI': Bench Grills State Over Regularised Mining Leases
A Supreme Court division bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta sharply questioned how tracts of riverbed land actively flagged for illegal excavation were subsequently regularised through official state leases. Pulling up the state government for condoning ecological degradation through administrative whitewashing, Justice Mehta issued an unequivocal warning to Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S.V. Raju, who appeared on behalf of the state of Rajasthan, stating bluntly that if the administration does not immediately reform its conduct and rectify its functioning, the court will have no alternative but to hand the entire matter over to the CBI for a comprehensive criminal inquiry. The bench observed that administrative regularisation of sites caught red-handed in illegal extraction points to a systemic breakdown of regulatory oversight and raises serious questions regarding collusion between mining operators and local enforcement officials.
An 8-Metre River Under a 1,782-Metre Bridge: Apex Court Slams 'Absurd' Flood Line Distortions
The apex court also severely reprimanded Rajasthan state authorities for blatantly misrepresenting previous judicial directives regarding the narrowing of active river corridors while demarcating the statutory 'High Flood Line' (HFL). Exposing glaring discrepancies in official state submissions, the bench highlighted that revenue and administrative records recorded the mighty Luni River near Balotra as being a mere eight metres wide, even though the public infrastructure bridge spanning across the river at that exact location measures approximately 1,782 metres in length. Characterizing this deliberate administrative manipulation as the "height of absurdity," Justice Mehta pointed out that official records were artificially altered to compress natural river boundaries, effectively freeing up vital floodplains and riverbanks for commercial mining operations. The bench reiterated that truncating river boundaries under the pretext of flood line surveys constitutes deliberate contempt of ecological preservation guidelines, signaling that continued administrative resistance will invite severe judicial intervention and central agency prosecution.
