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In Court

  • 30/03/2004

hope of deliverance: The Supreme Court has asked the Union government to implement an action plan to rehabilitate subsidence-affected people around the Raniganj and Jharia coalfields in West Bengal and Jharkhand, respectively. It also directed the authorities to table a report within two months about the steps they have taken.

The order was passed on a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by Haradhan Roy, former member of parliament from Asansol and vice-president of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions' coalmine workers' federation. The PIL charged the Centre with endangering the lives of over four lakh residents of the coal belt through its apathetic attitude. Chief Justice V N Khare, who headed the division bench, observed that underground fire had aggravated the problem of subsidence in the coalfields. Roy said the West Bengal government had sought about Rs 1,665 crore, in two phases, from the Centre for solving the problem.

tug of war: A lawyer in Venezuela has challenged President Hugo Chavez's decision to allow foreign companies to drill for oil and gas in Essequibo

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