VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi, April 12: The Jharkhand High Court taking suo-motu cognizance of the Trikut hills ropeway tragedy in Deoghar has refreshed the memory of people about two PILs filed a decade back on the similar issues. Both PILs were lost in the labyrinths of laws.
A division bench of Chief Justice Dr. Ravi Ranjan and Justice S. N. Prasad today sought a reply from the Jharkhand government. Four persons died and five sustained injuries. People trapped in the cable cars were rescued during the joint operation of ITBP, NDRF, and the Indian Air Force.
Notably, from 2004 onwards as much as Rs 240 crore was sanctioned to develop tourist sites in Jharkhand and these projects were executed by the Jharkhand Tourism Development Corporation in collaboration with Indian Tourism Development Corporation. Trikut hills ropeway was one of the projects. Development Commissioner Arun Kumar Singh was then the secretary of the Jharkhand tourism department. It was alleged that these projects became the den of corruption. The quality of work was very poor and officials profited from these projects.
PIL by Sanjay Tiwari in 2010
The first PIL (1024/2010) was filed in 2010 by Sanjay Tiwari. A division bench of the then Chief Justice Bhagwati Prasad and Justice R K Merathia did not pass any order but observed that the “petitioner may approach the police station concerned to lodge an FIR in the alleged criminal act because setting in motion in a criminal act is available to every citizen of this country.” This PIL was disposed of and no FIR was lodged.
PIL by Babloo Kumar in 2011
The next year Babloo Kumar of Doranda in Ranchi filed another PIL (5083/2011) on a similar matter. He made IAS Arun Kumar Singh among respondents of this case in his capacity as the Secretary of the Jharkhand Tourism department. He alleged Arun Kumar Singh of patronizing corruption. He alleged corruption in the execution of projects and requested the court to order a CBI inquiry. He also demanded lodging a disproportionate asset case against this officer.
“The PIL has not been disposed of,” said Jharkhand High Court lawyer Rajiv Kumar who was the petitioner’s lawyer. “In this PIL, in the last decade, the court has issued 55 different directions. The court even sought the audit report from the Accountant General (AG) related to these projects. The AG had raised various objections. It is unfortunate that the audit report was not given to the court. The Trikut ropeway was one of the projects where the scam was allegedly committed,” said Rajiv Kumar.
