Justice Vishal Mishra of the Madhya Pradesh High Court recused himself after revealing that BJP MLA Sanjay Pathak attempted to call him regarding a pending illegal mining case. The matter will now be placed before the Chief Justice for reassignment.
A recent development in the Madhya Pradesh High Court has created a stir after a sitting judge revealed that a BJP legislator tried to reach out to him regarding a case linked to alleged illegal mining.
On September 1, Justice Vishal Mishra passed an order in which he openly stated that BJP MLA Sanjay Pathak attempted to contact him on phone while a petition concerning illegal mining was still pending.
The judge recorded this in his order and said:
“Mr. Sanjay Pathak has made an attempt to call me to have discussion regarding this particular matter, therefore, I am not inclined to entertain this writ petition.”
Following this, Justice Mishra decided not to hear the case further. He recused himself and directed that the file should go to the Chief Justice of the High Court so that it can be assigned to another bench.
The order clearly stated:
“Let the matter be placed before the Hon’ble Chief Justice for listing the matter before the appropriate Bench for consideration.”
The case itself stems from a writ petition filed by a man named Ashutosh Dixit. He had first approached the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in Bhopal with allegations of illegal mining against certain individuals. However, according to him, the EOW did not take effective action.
He then moved to the High Court, arguing that the agency failed to complete its preliminary enquiry within the time limit.
While this petition was being heard, Sanjay Pathak moved an application before the court asking to be heard in the matter, even though he was not originally a party to the petition filed by Dixit.
This led to further controversy, especially after Justice Mishra revealed that Pathak had personally tried to contact him.
In the case, Dixit was represented by Senior Advocate SR Tamrakar assisted by Advocate Ankit Chopra. Advocate Madhur Shukla appeared on behalf of the Economic Offences Wing.
Case Title:
Ashutosh Dixit v Economic Offences Wing & Ors
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