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India/Bangladesh: Khaitan & Co has won Supreme Court (SC) approval for French cement company Lafarge to mine limestone in India's north-eastern region in a landmark ruling that will likely set the tone for future reforms in environmental governance. Khaitan & Co litigation partner Sanjeev Kapoor instructed senior advocates for the company, which had commenced mining activity in Meghalaya as a French-Spanish joint venture Lafarge Umiam Mining.

Lafarge successfully defended allegations of fraud and wilful concealment of the facts while contesting the case after 2010's prohibition from mining in the area. The company's project involved sending limestone across the Indo-Bangladesh border on a conveyor belt as raw material for its cement plant in Bangladesh.

"This is a landmark judgement in the context of the environment and mining, especially for projects involving use of forest land for non-forest purposes. The judgement dwells deep into many areas that were until today untouched by any judicial interpretation," said Khaitan & Co. in a statement.

The SC forest bench has upheld the decision of the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF), which had granted revised environmental clearance, site clearance and stage-1 forest clearance to Lafarge. The bench, comprising chief justice S H Kapadia and justices Aftab Alam and K S Radhakrishnan dismissed the petition of 21 tribal activists under Shella Action Committee opposing Lafarge's mining activity in the forest region. The court took into consideration the principles of economic sustainability and environmental viability while laying down significant guidelines such as appointment of a 'National Regulator' to appraise projects, enforce environmental conditions and to impose penalties on polluters.

The court held that, "The word 'development' is a relative term. One cannot assume that the tribals are not aware of principles of conservation of forest. In the present case we are satisfied that limestone mining has been going on for centuries in the area and that it is an activity that is intertwined with the culture and the unique land holding and tenure system of the Nongtrai Village. On the facts of this case, we are satisfied with due diligence exercise undertaken by MoEF in the matter of forest diversion."