The Supreme Court on May 3 allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation to continue its probe into allegations that Pankaj Mishra, a “close associate” of former Chief Minister Hemant Soren, and others are engaged in illegal mining in the Sahibganj district of Jharkhand.
However, a Bench headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna stopped the CBI from filing a chargesheet till the next date of hearing in the Supreme Court on July 8. “Investigation can continue, but the chargesheet/final report will not be filed by the CBI till the next date of hearing,” the court ordered.
The top court issued notices to the CBI and to the complainant, Bijay Hansda, on the petition filed by the Jharkhand government.
‘Only preliminary enquiry’
The State government, represented by senior advocate Kapil Sibal and advocate Jayant Mohan, had assailed a High Court order of February 23, which allowed the CBI to register an FIR in the illegal mining case.
The State said that the High Court had erroneously interpreted an August 18, 2023 order of a coordinate Bench, which had directed the CBI to only conduct a.”preliminary enquiry into the conduct of the accused persons, including the petitioner [Bijay Hansda] as he has sought to withdraw the writ petition”.
The State argued that the August 18 order had not directed the CBI to go ahead and investigate and register an FIR. In fact, the State argued, the High Court had sought a preliminary enquiry into allegations on August 18 as it had been unclear whether the case was exceptional enough to even warrant a transfer to the CBI.
Closure report filed
Besides, the Jharkhand government argued that an FIR registration by the CBI would require mandatory and prior consent from the State under Section 6 of the Delhi Police Special Establishment Act. The government said that the State Police had separately investigated the allegations and had filed a closure report in the trial court in October 2023.
The State government submitted that “the preliminary enquiry itself has now shown that the case does not fall in the category of the rarest of rare”.
‘Illegal mining’
Trouble had started when Mr. Hansda filed a complaint alleging that “stone mafias” were engaged in “illegal mining” with the connivance of government officials.
The February 23 order of the High Court noted that the CBI had lodged an FIR based on Mr. Hansda’s complaint alleging that Bishnu Prasad Yadav, Pavitra Kumar Yadav, Rajesh Yadav, Sanjay Yadav, Bacha Yadav, Sudhesh Mandal, and Pankaj Mishra were engaged in a “large scale mining scam” at Nimbu Pahar in Sahibganj.
It was alleged that the accused were close associates of Mr. Soren. Mr. Hansda, the High Court said, claimed that he tried to stop the illegal mining with the help of the local villagers on May 5, 2022. However, they were assaulted by the bodyguards of the accused persons.
