Charges to be framed in sand mining case

Panaji: A North Goa court has directed that charges be framed against three accused — Jose Clement, 33, Benny D’Sa, 55, and Babusab Shaikh, 54 —for theft and for dishonestly receiving stolen property after Ponda police caught them illegally extracting river sand/mineral of around eight metric cube at the rate of Rs 8,000.
The court discharged the three for illegal sand extraction after it found that police did not follow procedure under the Mines and Mineral Act, 1957, and under the Goa, Daman and Diu minor mineral concession Rules, 1985.
Counsel S P Gaonkar representing the accused argued that LPSI Rashmi Bhaidkar attached to Ponda police station who filed the complaint on March 29, 2021, is not the competent authority to file the complaint for offences under Section 21 of the Mines and Mineral Act, 1957, and Section 62 (2) of the Goa, Daman and Diu Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 1985.
The high court has been monitoring enforcement by authorities of illegal sand extraction in the state.