Mumbai: FIR against Jindal Steel, 6 other officials for flouting environmental protection norms

A criminal complaint was filed by the police on February 7, 2017, alleging that mangroves were cut near the Amba river in Pen on government land and that a jetty was constructed in the river without getting environmental clearance.

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Mumbai: FIR against Jindal Steel, 6 other officials for flouting environmental protection norms
Sajjan Jindal, CMD of Jindal Steel Work.

In Short

  • Pen is a town and taluka in Raigad district of Maharashtra, 80 kilometres from Mumbai.
  • Ministry of Environment and Forests didn't give clearance to JSW's jetty expansion project in 2014.
  • It was on Nov 26, 2015 when the company got the environmental clearance from the Ministry.

Pen police has registered a first information report (FIR) against Jindal Steel Work (JSW), JSW Dharamtar Port, Sajjan Jindal (the CMD of JSW) and six other officials under Sections 120B, 409, 420, 447 and Section 15 of the Environment Protection Act, 1986 at Vadkhal police station.

Pen is a town and taluka in Raigad district of Maharashtra, almost 80 kilometres away from Mumbai.

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A criminal complaint was filed by the police on February 7, 2017, alleging that mangroves were cut near the Amba river in Pen on government land and that a jetty was constructed in the river without getting permission from environmental clearance among other issues on the direction of the order passed by first class Judicial Magistrate of Pen in Raigad district of Maharashtra.

FIR copy.

Uttam Sonavane, police inspector at Vadkhal Police Station, confirmed to India Today that the FIR had been registered last week and it was getting investigated by the local crime branch team. "The investigating team has been instructed to submit the report before the court by this month end."

PIL FILED IN 2014 BY ALIBAUG RESIDENTS

In 2014, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed by a few Alibaug residents, including one Surendra Dhavle, alleging that in the process of expansion of its Ispat Steel Plant at Dolvi near Alibaug, JSW had destroyed mangroves and violated CRZ norms.

Surprisingly, at the time of filing the PIL in 2014, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) had not given the clearance to JSW's jetty expansion project. It was on November 26th, 2015 when the company got the environmental clearance from the Ministry.

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Petitioner Surendra Dhavle said, "The main contention in my fresh PIL filed in 2016 before the Judicial Magistrate of Pen, under the provisions of section 156 (3) of the CrPC, 1973 was - how the accused entered into a criminal conspiracy with unknown public servants and started construction of a jetty in 2011 without any statutory approvals, which is nothing but a cognisable offence under Section 15 of the Environment Protection Act, 1986."

Google image of the Amba river.

Replying to questions raised by India Today, JSW group spokesperson said, "We scrupulously follow the law of the land and all allegations against us are baseless. We take appropriate legal recourse to defend our position."

However, the PIL filed in 2014 is still pending before the Bombay High Court. Last year, in December 2016, JSW had argued in the Bombay High Court that it already had all permissions for the expansion of its steel plant from the capacity of five million tonnes to ten million tonnes.

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Meanwhile, local crime branch officials have summoned petitioner Dhavle to remain present before the police officials with all relevant details and documents to investigate the case.