Madhya Pradesh High Court judge recuses from illegal mining case, states BJP MLA attempted to contact him
BHOPAL: A Madhya Pradesh High Court judge hearing a writ petition, alleging illegal mining in the central Indian state, has withdrawn from hearing the case, stating that a ruling BJP MLA Sanjay Pathak attempted to contact him regarding the matter.
Importantly, a petition was filed by Ashutosh Dixit (Mundwara-Katni resident) in the HC, in which the petitioner had stated that he had complained to the state’s Economic Offence Wing (EOW) about rampant illegal mining in Sihora and Gosalpur areas of Jabalpur district, besides Katni district.
The petitioner had stated that the petition had to be filed in the HC, as no action was being taken by the EOW on the complaint.
During the hearing of the petition, the EOW informed the HC’s single bench that the complaint was made by the petitioner against M/S Nirmala Minerals and Anand Mining Corporation.
Both companies are allegedly related to mining baron-turned-BJP MLA Sanjay Pathak, who was a minister in one of the previous BJP regimes led by Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
During the hearing of the petition, intervenor applications were filed by Anand Mining Corporation and Nirmala Minerals (Sanjay Pathak’s mother, Nirmala Pathak and son, Yash Pathak, were directors in the respective companies) through one Varun Kumar Gautam.
While perusing the intervenor applications on Monday, the HC judge Justice Vishal Mishra, stated, “Sanjay Pathak has made an attempt to call me to have a discussion regarding this particular matter, there, I’m not inclined to entertain this writ petition. Let the matter be placed before the Hon'ble Chief Justice for listing the matter before the appropriate Bench for consideration.”
Taking to ‘X’ over the issue, the opposition Congress’s state chief Jitu Patwari wrote, “Chief Minister Sir, the truth is now out in the open as evidence! You may pretend to be ‘Dhritrashtra’! ‘Sanjay’ has understood the Mahabharata of corruption!”
Importantly, Sanjay Pathak is the fourth-time MLA from Vijayraghavgarh constituency of Katni district. Prior to him, his father Satyendra Pathak represented the same seat in the Vidhan Sabha as Congress legislator and was a minister in the Digvijaya Singh-led erstwhile Congress government.
Counted among one of the richest politicians in the state, Sanjay Pathak quit the Vidhan Sabha and the Congress in 2014 and joined the BJP, before winning from Vijayraghavgarh in 2015 as the saffron party’s candidate. He was a minister in the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led government between 2016 and 2018. He won the 2018 and 2023 elections from the same seat on the BJP ticket.