In connection with Public Interest litigation (PIl), the Gujarat High Court on Friday issued notice to Gujarat’s senior Cabinet Minister Babu Bokhiria in illegal mining case.
A bench of Chief Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Justice JB Pardiwala has asked Bokhiria to file his reply within three weeks. The Water Resources and Agriculture and his accomplices had not paid recoveries to the tune of Rs 252 crore, according to the PIl filed by one Dinesh Chauhan. The petition that alleged Bokhiria and his associates had indulged in illegal mining of limestone in the Porbandar district. On June 15, lower court convicted him and three others for a three-year terms for illegal mining worth Rs 54 crore. Though, he has appealed against the order. One more petition of alleged water theft is also pending against the Minister in the High Court.
“It was in 2005-2006 that then Porbandar District Collector HN Chhibber had unearthed a Rs 700-crore illegal limestone mining scam on lands not allotted or leased out to any bidder. It alleged that the Minister was involved in some cases, while illegal mining had been continuing in the district since 2001,” said the petition.