LAWYERSON WAR Vs. STATE OF MEGHALAYA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) At the outset it must be recorded that there has been a considerable twist in the matter, in the sense that the perceived original grievance bears little resemblance to the ultimate bone of contention.

(2.) When this petition, filed in public interest, was received, the Court was minded to entertain the same on the ground that a valuable mineral and natural resource, which this idyllic State tucked away in one corner of the vast country was endowed with, was sought to be willy-nilly squandered without a care for tomorrow. The premise on which this Court found an element of public interest in the matter was the manner in which limestone was being permitted to be quarried in the State and the resultant likelihood of the imminent depletion of its finite resources. The fundamental premise remains unaltered though there has, undoubtedly, been a twist in the tale.

(3.) Keeping the basic grievance - of the rapid depletion of limestone deposits in the State - in mind, the course that this petition has charted over the last six months or so may be noticed from the orders passed herein. The petition was received and progressed for nearly three years in rather timid fashion till it appeared to spring to life with an order made on April 5 this year. It must be acknowledged that for most of the interregnum an invisible virus and the several lockdowns that it brought in its wake disrupted Court activities as it, indeed, threw life across the globe into disarray like never before.