Supreme Court Raps Rajasthan Authorities Over Illegal Sand Mining; Says Official Inaction Pushed Villagers To Violence

The Supreme Court yesterday granted bail to a man sentenced to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment in a case over vandalization of a house by a mob. It was noted that the authorities' failure to act on complaints made by some villagers regarding illegal mining/stone crushing in the area led to the incident.A bench of Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and R Mahadevan expressed its "anguish" at the authorities' inaction and proposed further action. Accordingly, it called on the State to furnish the names and designation of all officers who were there at the time of the incident."Before parting, we notice that this case requires further action. The Court puts it anguish on record. Clearly the present incident is the direct result of total inaction by the concerned Authorities, who were repeatedly approached to stop/check the illegal mining and Stone crushing units, that too, by the villagers concerned which were being operated by the complainant and other people" the Court noted.It was further commented that the case at hand was not an isolated incident."learned counsel for the State shall furnish before us the names and designation of all the Officers who were there at the relevant point of time and due to whose inaction the present incident occurred. As this is not an isolated case which has come to the notice of the Court, we direct the learned counsel for the State to furnish the names."The Court also directed the petitioner to file an affidavit giving details of all material showing there was illegal mining/stone crushing going on in the area.Directing release of the petitioner during pendency of the appeal before the High Court, the bench further noted that no attempt was made by the authorities to verify the complaint of the villagers in the area. "It appears that the authorities were totally silent, and not even an attempt was made to verify whether as per the complaint, the complainant and others had exceeded their mining areas or were carrying out such activity without proper required clearances."Briefly put, the petitioner was accused of vandalizing the house of the complainant as part of a mob. He argued that the villagers in the area had been agitating the issue of illegal mining and stone crushing units operated by the complainant and others. When the authorities did not take action, the incident occurred in the heat of the moment.He further highlighted that the injuries suffered by the complainant and others were simple scratches, and claimed that he was roped in as he was the brother of the Sarpanch. Having spent about 1.5 years in custody, he also pointed out that all co-accused had been granted bail. It was further underlined that he had been sentenced to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment in the case.Appearances:For the Petitioner: Mr. Namit Saxena, AOR.For the Respondents: Mr. Shiv Mangal Sharma, AAG; Mr. Puneet Parihar, Advocate; Mr. Siddharth Bishnoi, Advocate; Ms. Nidhi Jaswal, AOR.Case Title: PRAKASH v. STATE OF RAJASTHAN, SLP(Crl) No. 18005/2025Click here to read the order

Supreme Court Raps Rajasthan Authorities Over Illegal Sand Mining; Says Official Inaction Pushed Villagers To Violence

Debby Jain

Expressing "anguish", the Court called for the names and designation of officers who were there at the time of the incident.

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