Illegal mining: Supreme Court to hear Jharkhand govt’s plea against CBI probe after two weeks

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday deferred by two weeks the hearing of the Jharkhand government's plea challenging a high court decision that directed a CBI probe into allegations of illegal mining in the state's Sahibganj district.

A bench of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar listed the matter for further hearing after two weeks.

On May 3, the top court allowed the investigation to continue in the case of illegal mining in the Sahibganj district of Jharkhand but restrained the CBI from filing a chargesheet till further orders.

It had sought the CBI's response on the Jharkhand government's plea challenging the February 23 decision of the high court which rejected the state's plea against the probe by the central agency.

It had noted the submission of senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Arunabh Chowdhury, appearing for Jharkhand, that the high court had on August 18 last year only ordered for preliminary inquiry by the CBI.

The state government said the investigation in the case registered by the police was never handed over to the CBI and a closure report has been filed in the matter.

In an appeal filed through advocate Jayant Gupta, the Jharkhand government said that the high court had dismissed the state's petition on the grounds that its coordinate bench had in August, last year, directed a preliminary inquiry in the case by the CBI.

"The high court overlooked a clear bar provided under Section 6 of DSPE Act whereby any matter falling within the purview of the state government in this case... could have been investigated upon by the CBI only after having taken consent from the state government and in the absence of such consent the registration of FIR itself was illegal," it said.