SUMAN K SHRIVASTAVA
Ranchi, Sept 18: The Supreme Court today issued notices to Bijay Hansda, an ED witness in the multi-crore illegal mining case in Sahibganj.
A division bench comprising Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice Bela M Trivedi, while hearing a petition, filed by Jharkhand CM’s MLA representative Pankaj Mishra, challenging the high court’s CBI probe order, issued notice to Hansda and fixed September 26 as the next date of hearing.
Pankaj Mishra, currently lodged in Birsa Munda Central Jail in Ranchi in a money laundering case, happens to be one of the prime accused in a case filed by Bijay Hansda with the Sahibganj police. Hansda’s complaint later became the basis for the ED to begin a probe into the Rs 1000 crore illegal mining case in Sahibganj.
Arguing the case, Mishra’s counsel stated that both the Jharkhand High Court and the ED were playing a friendly match and the court passed the order without impleading him (Mishra) in the case.
Notably, Hansda had first complained about unlawful mining at Nimbu Pahad, which became the basis for the ED to take up the issue.
He also filed a petition in the high court and demanded a CBI probe informing about the illegal mining being done in the Santhal Pargana region.
Hansda informed the court that when he tried to stop illegal mining, Pankaj Mishra threatened him with dire consequences.
Later, the Sahibganj police detained him in connection with a criminal investigation. A paper stating his desire to drop the lawsuit went viral at the time of his detention. Later, he claimed his signature was forcibly taken in the jail and denied ever intending to withdraw his lawsuit.
However, he filed a fresh petition before the high court to withdraw the case, after he was granted bail, saying that it was not filed by him but the court dismissed his application for withdrawal of the petition and ordered a CBI probe into the matter on August 18.
The court observed that prima facie, it appears that Hansda is being forced to withdraw the petition.
“…the police is shielding the main persons who are behind the illegal mining. The further question remains that if such a thing is brought to the knowledge of the Constitutional Court, the Court can allow it to go unattended or not! the answer is simply “no” because the public at large expected a fair and impartial inquiry/ investigation,” a bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi observed in its order.
Hansda, currently on bail, is one of the key witnesses of the ED probing the laundering of money earned by illegal mining
Incidentally, Hansda has stuck to his new stand in the Ranchi PMLA court too, where, on September 13, he submitted that Mishra never misbehaved with him or threatened him.
He has reiterated that he did not have any information of illegal mining at Nimbu Pahad.
