The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Thursday ordered the registration of a criminal contempt case against BJP MLA and mining businessman Sanjay Pathak for allegedly attempting to contact a sitting judge in connection with an illegal mining case.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vinay Saraf issued the direction while disposing of a related petition and rejecting Pathak’s objections.
The court took suo motu cognisance of the matter after it emerged that Pathak had allegedly tried to reach out to Justice Vishal Mishra over the phone regarding the case.
The issue came to light in September last year when Justice Mishra recused himself from hearing a petition related to alleged illegal mining. At the time, the judge had disclosed that Pathak had attempted to contact him to discuss the matter, prompting him to step aside from the proceedings.
The original petition was filed by Katni resident Ashutosh Dixit, who alleged that three companies linked to Pathak were involved in illegal and excessive mining activities in the Sihora area of Jabalpur district, including operations on forest land.
Dixit’s counsel argued that the attempt to contact the judge amounted to interference with judicial proceedings. Following the disclosure, Justice Mishra had directed that the matter be placed before the Chief Justice at the administrative level.
The petitioner had earlier approached authorities with complaints but alleged that no concrete action was taken, leading him to seek judicial intervention.
With the High Court now directing contempt proceedings, the case is expected to move forward under criminal contempt provisions.
