The Jaintia Students’ Union (JSU) has filed a Public Interest Litigation before the Meghalaya High Court challenging the environmental public hearing held on July 31, 2026, for the proposed Shree Cement Ltd mining project at Lum Syrman, Elaka Nongkhlieh. The PIL was filed by a JSU delegation led by Education Secretary Bocheru Mi Pohsnem and General Secretary Neilkee Mukhim.
The union said it moved the High Court after exhausting administrative and statutory remedies, alleging that its representations and FIRs had failed to prompt corrective action from the authorities. It said complaints before the Meghalaya Human Rights
Commission and proceedings before the National Green Tribunal were also pending.
The JSU alleged that the mandatory public hearing was reduced to a 46-minute exercise, with indigenous stakeholders and local landowners allegedly prevented from participating. It also alleged that protesters were attacked and that a JSU emergency ambulance was ambushed, leaving its driver, Rapbor Mukhim, with serious head injuries.
The union further accused the police of failing to act against the attackers while using tear gas against protesters.
Describing the PIL as its final institutional recourse, the JSU urged the High Court to intervene and protect the rights of indigenous communities. It warned that failure to address the issue would leave the union and civil society groups with no option but to launch public agitation across the region.