LAGATAR24 NETWORK
Ranchi, Sep 4: Pankaj Mishra has knocked on the door of the Supreme Court to challenge the order of the Jharkhand High Court to order a CBI probe into illegal stone mining at Nimbu Pahad under the Jirwari police station area in Sahibganj.
The Jharkhand High Court on August 18 this year had ordered the CBI to conduct a preliminary enquiry into the illegal mining as alleged by the petitioner Vijay Hansda through a Criminal Writ Petition 665/2022. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has been investigating the illegal mining case and arrested and chargesheeted Pankaj Mishra as one of the masterminds of the scam who is the MLA representative of Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren.
As per the information, Pankaj Mishra who is in judicial custody at the Birsa Munda central jail in Ranchi filed an SLP before the Supreme Court on August 31 to challenge the Jharkhand High Court order. But his matter with diary number 35972/2023 has not been listed for hearing so far. But it is clearly mentioned that his SLP is related to that specific order of the Jharkhand High Court.
Notably, Vijay Hansda was a key witness of the ED till he turned hostile and requested the High Court to dismiss his petition. However, the High Court declined his request and directed the CBI to conduct an enquiry.
Earlier, Hansda through his petition had demanded a CBI probe informing about illegal mining at the said place. He alleged Pankaj Mishra, Dahu Yadav and many other persons were directly involved in the illegal mining. He even alleged that Sahibganj DC Ramnivas Yadav refused to entertain his complaint. He said that when he tried to stop Pankaj Mishra, he threatened him with dire consequences.
?ncidentally, Hansda had filed a petition last month to withdraw the PIL, but the court dismissed his application for withdrawal of the petition. He said that he never filed any PIL before the High Court and somebody else did it in his name when he was in jail.
The preliminary enquiry of the CBI so far has revealed rampant illegal mining not only at Nimbu Pahad but also in the entire Sahibganj and the agency is believed to have found sufficient evidence to lodge a regular FIR. The CBI has recorded the statement of Ashok Yadav who is a witness of the ED in the illegal mining case. Besides, the agency has recorded statements of Vijay Hansda as well as Vishnu Yadav who is again a prime suspect in the illegal mining.
