RANCHI: The Jharkhand High Court on Tuesday imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on IAS officer and former Sahibganj Deputy Commissioner (DC) Ramniwas Yadav for unlawfully revoking the mining lease of an operator.
The court deemed the cancellation of the mining lease as illegal. The order was passed by a division bench Chief Justice MS Ramachandra Rao and Justice Deepak Roshan.
During the hearing, the court observed that the Deputy Commissioner had no authority to terminate the petitioner’s mining lease before its due time, yet he proceeded with the cancellation.
In addition to that, the court has granted the petitioner the liberty to seek damages in civil court for the suspension of mining activities from September 8, 2023 onwards.
The petition was filed in the High Court by M/s Hill Movement, owned by Prakash Yadav. The petitioner was represented by Advocates Prashant Pallav, Parth Jalan, and Shivani.
During the hearing, the court was informed that the company was given a stone mining lease in Sahibganj, which was cancelled without any notice or prior information.
The Deputy Commissioner does not have the right to cancel the mining lease; rather this right lies with the state government, they said.
Advocates representing the petitioner further argued that, according to the Minor Mineral Rules, the Deputy Commissioner cannot do so unless the government grants him the right to do so.
“The Deputy Commissioner has cancelled the mining lease citing other allegations including non-payment of royalty. The company was not even given a chance to be heard from his side, which is a violation of natural justice. Therefore, the order of the Deputy Commissioner should be cancelled,” argued the petitioner’s advocate.
After hearing the arguments from the petitioner’s counsel, the court imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on the Deputy Commissioner. Ramniwas Yadav, a 2015 batch IAS officer, joined as Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Sahibganj in October 2020. Yadav is currently posted as Director of Higher Education.
Notably, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided his official residence in Sahibganj last year as part of an ongoing investigation into an alleged mining scam.
During the raid, officials seized over Rs 7 lakh in cash and 21 cartridges of various calibres from the premises of the Sahibganj DC.
The federal agency recovered a total sum of Rs 36.99 lakh, including Rs 7.25 lakh from Yadav’s camp office.
Additionally, authorities confiscated 19 cartridges of 9mm bore, two cartridges of .380mm, and five empty shells of .45 calibre pistols from his residence.
Furthermore, 30 suspected "benami" (proxy-owned) bank accounts, discovered during the raid, were frozen.