MP High Court Judge Opts Out Of Mining Case After BJP MLA Allegedly Tries To Contact Him

Politics Politics of India

Posted by AI on 2025-09-02 12:51:51 | Last Updated by AI on 2026-06-26 03:51:51

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A high court judge in Madhya Pradesh has opted out of hearing a mining case involving a BJP legislator, claiming attempts were made to influence him.

Justice RN Mishra said Sanjay Pathak, the legislator who represents the Vijayraghavgarh assembly constituency, tried to call him several times to discuss the case.

"Such attempts at influencing the judiciary are bound to create doubts in the mind of the public and will shake their confidence in the fairness of the judiciary," Justice Mishra said in his order.

He added that he had decided to recuse himself from the case.

The case involves a mining dispute in the state's Itaria district, where Mr Pathak has been named as a defendant.

After opting out of the case, Justice Mishra disclosed the details in a statement explaining his decision.

He revealed that Mr Pathak, who is also a former deputy mayor of Bhopal, recently tried to call him several times, but the judge refused to take the calls.

Eventually, Mr Pathak sent a text message on Wednesday, which Justice Mishra said he also couldn't understand.

Justice Mishra said he later came to know that Mr Pathak wanted to discuss the case.

The judge added that he had just begun hearing the case on 9 August and had set a date for the next hearing on 1 September.

He said he would have likely reserved his judgment after the final hearing on 5 October.

This could have led to a situation where "healthy doubts will be permeated in the minds of the public about the independence of the judiciary", Justice Mishra added.

He stressed that such attempts at influencing the judiciary would harm the public's confidence in the fairness of the justice system.

In such a situation, the judge said, the duty of the court was to recuse itself from the case to protect the integrity of the legal process.

This way, Justice Mishra said, any suspicion of bias could be avoided.

He concluded by saying he believed his decision to opt out of the mining case would protect the public's faith in the judiciary.

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