Breaking News: SC stays Jharkhand HC order on CBI probe into coal theft

THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK

Ranchi, Oct. 18: The Supreme Court today stayed the order of the Jharkhand High Court, which directed the CBI to probe into the alleged involvement of police officers in the illegal mining and sale of coal in Dhanbad.

A division bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice KV Vishwanath has stayed the Jharkhand High Court order while hearing a special leave petition (SLP) filed by the Jharkhand government against the order passed by the high court on October 3.

After the hearing, the Apex Court also issued notices to other respondents, including the CBI in the case.

The next hearing in the case will be held on December 10.

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Appearing on behalf of the Jharkhand government, senior counsel Kapil Sibal said that the antecedents of Arup Chatterjee, who filed the petition in the high court, are not credible. Chatterjee happens to be the owner of New11 Bharat, a news channel.

“Moreover, the way and speed with which the CBI has begun probing the case, after the court’s order, also raises questions over the motive behind the case,” he stated and placed the letter written by the CBI to various police stations.

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The CBI, in its letter to all the police stations in Dhanbad, had sought details of the police officers and FIRs lodged for coal theft since 2021.

Section 17 (A) of PC Act

Sibal further argued that the CBI needs approval from the State government to probe into the role of the police officers under Section 17 (A) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Notably, Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PC Act) protects public servants from frivolous investigations by requiring police officers to get prior approval from a competent authority before investigating an alleged offence. The section was introduced by an amendment that came into effect on July 26, 2018.