SC to hear plea on alleged irregularities in land allotment in J'khand

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Published : May 12, 2022, 6:15 PM IST

SC to hear plea on alleged irregularities in land allotment in J'khand

One Rajiv Kumar of AITUC had filed SLP (Special Leave Petition) in the Supreme Court in 2017 alleging irregularities in the land acquisition. The last hearing in the case was held on 12 July 2019. Pertinently, 165 acres of land was allotted for Kathautia Coal Mines located in Padwa of Palamu. The land allotted for mining included forest land and Bhoodan land. Kumar of AITUC wrote a letter to the Governor in 2015 alleging irregularities in the land allotment.

Ranchi: A day after the arrest of Jharkhand Mining Secretary Pooja Singhal in a money laundering case, Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a case of alleged irregularities in the allotment of land for Kathoutia coal mines of Palamu in which Singhal's role is suspected. Besides Singhal, the role of many top officials including, former Jharkhand Chief Secretary Rajbala Verma is also suspected.

One Rajiv Kumar of AITUC had filed SLP (Special Leave Petition) in the Supreme Court in 2017 alleging irregularities in the land acquisition. The last hearing in the case was held on 12 July 2019. Pertinently, 165 acres of land was allotted for Kathautia Coal Mines located in Padwa of Palamu. The land allotted for mining included forest land and Bhoodan land. Kumar of AITUC wrote a letter to the Governor in 2015 alleging irregularities in the land allotment.

The Governor had given the responsibility of investigating the matter to the Revenue Secretary and Personnel Secretary. On the instructions of both the officers, the then commissioner of Palamu, NK Mishra, had reported many irregularities regarding the allotted land and submitted a report to the state government on the matter. In the commissioner's investigation report, the then DC of Palamu, Pooja Singhal, District Land Acquisition Officer Uday Kant Pathak, Padwa CO Alok Kumar, and other personnel were held guilty.

However, the government did not take any action on this report and gave a clean chit to everyone. Kumar later approached the High Court in 2016 over the matter. However, the Jharkhand High Court, while rejecting the petition, imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on Kumar. Later, Kumar filed SLP (Special Leave Petition) in the Supreme Court regarding the matter.

Also read: Jharkhand moves SC against centre's decision to auction coal blocks for commercial mining

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