New Delhi: In a setback for the Jharkhand government, the Supreme Court on Wednesday permitted the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the alleged Rs 1,500 crore illegal stone mining scam in Sahibganj, tightening the legal net around the syndicate allegedly masterminded by Pankaj Mishra, a close aide of Chief Minister Hemant Soren.
A Bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Alok Aradhe, while dismissing the special leave petition (SLP) filed by the state government, upheld the Jharkhand High Court’s decision ordering a CBI inquiry.
The apex court questioned the state government’s plea to limit the scope of the investigation when key figures allegedly connected to the Chief Minister were at the centre of the controversy.
The Justice Kumar-led Bench rejected arguments that the Jharkhand High Court had exceeded its jurisdiction in permitting the CBI to look into the broader illegal mining racket. In its SLP, the state government argued that a Central probe was unnecessary and its agencies were competent to investigate the matter.
The decision comes even as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) continues to deepen its money-laundering probe against the alleged mining cartel.
In its fifth supplementary prosecution complaint filed before the Special PMLA Court in Ranchi on June 30, the Central agency named eight individuals and two companies as fresh accused, taking the total to 19 persons and entities arraigned across six complaints.
According to the ED, the illegal mining and extortion network was allegedly masterminded by Pankaj Mishra, an influential JMM leader considered close to CM Hemant Soren.
The federal anti-money laundering agency estimates the proceeds of crime to be over Rs 1,000 crore. So far, the ED has seized and frozen assets including Rs 5.34 crore in cash, an inland vessel, five industrial stone crushers, multiple vehicles, and bank balances exceeding Rs 13.32 crore.
The ED’s investigation, arising from an FIR registered by the Jharkhand Police under IPC and Arms Act provisions, revealed a politically protected cartel monopolising mining and mineral transport in the Sahibganj region.
(IANS)
