Tribunal asked State to pay Rs. 100 cr. The Supreme Court on Thursday deferred an National Green Tribunal order directing the Andhra Pradesh government to deposit Rs. 100 crore for not checking illegal sand mining in the Krishna river. The decision was based on a civil appeal filed by the State. In its appeal, the State argued that the Tribunal went beyond the provisions of the law and initiated suo motu proceedings on the sole basis of a letter containing “vague, false and misleading allegations” about illegal sand mining. The Tribunal had even asked the Central Pollution Control Board and the State Pollution Control Board to conduct an inspection on the basis of the allegations levelled about illegal mining in Prakasam Barrage in Krishna river. “Despite the finding that there is no illegal sand mining and the fact that there were orders of the district collectors concerned for allowing de-siltation of the Barrage, NGT proceeded as if illegal sand mining has taken place and directed the Andhra Pradesh government to deposit Rs. 100 crore as an interim measure without hearingthe Andhra Pradesh government,” the appeal submitted.