Illegal sand mining: Apex court notice to Centre, CBI, 5 states

New Delhi: The Supreme Court directed the Centre, CBI and five states on Wednesday to respond to a plea which has sought investigation in illegal sand mining cases and termination of leases of entities which are involved in it.

A bench headed by Justice S A Bobde initially asked the petitioner to approach the high court with his grievances but later issued notices to the Centre, CBI and states of Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.

The plea has alleged that illegal sand mining across the country has caused damage to the environment and adversely impacted the natural ecological system of the adjoining areas.

During the hearing, the bench told advocate Prashant Bhushan, who appeared for petitioner M Alagarsamy, that they should move the high court first.

"We want to have the advantage of high court's order so that we can decide it properly," the bench, also comprising Justices R Subhash Reddy and B R Gavai, told Bhushan.

Bhushan said that "environmental havoc" has been created due to illegal sand mining and the authorities concerned have allowed entities to carry out mining without even mandatory environmental plan and clearance.