The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: Expressing concern over the Central Investigation Bureau’s inability to probe the cases of illegal sand and gravel mining citing resource constraints, the Rajasthan high court has asked CBI director Praveen Sood to appear before it.
The high court noted on March 4 that “such limitations were unexpected from India’s premier investigating agency,” and directed Sood to appear either in person or through video conferencing when the case comes up for hearing on March 17.
In April 2024, the high court had directed the CBI to investigate illegal sand mining on the state’s Chambal and Banas riverbeds. The directive came in the case of one Shahrukh, who is accused of transporting 40 metric tonnes of sand in a dumper without a valid permit. The court asked the agency to investigate other sand mafias of the state too. Following that order, a case was registered by the central agency.
Concurrently, the state’s mining department also set up as many as 27 teams who would be mobilised to put a stop to illegal mining and its transportation.
‘There is hope now’
Soon after the high court directive, an India Today report underlined that “illegal sand mining, estimated to be three times the legal permit, continues to be a major problem in Rajasthan.”
“It has resulted in excavators damaging riverbeds by creating pits and craters as deep as seven metres, leading to ponding effect in the river flow and creation of boulder heaps and driveways for the transporting vehicles.”
Welcoming the high court’s decision to bring in the CBI to probe the matter, the news report had said, “There is hope now that the CBI investigation will expose the nexus involving big players in sand mining,” adding that in February 2024, the Enforcement Directorate had also raided “one such big player, Meghraj Singh.”
“The findings of its (ED) probe are not yet known. Politicians in Rajasthan are accused of looking the other way as illegal sand mining continues for decades,” the report highlighted. Significantly, it also said, “Insiders peg the estimated bribes involved in sand mining to the tune of Rs 360 crores a year against the government’s revenue of Rs 125 crore annually.”
A restoration
Considering the appalling situation, the Supreme Court, in 2017, had banned sand mining in that desert state. However, sand prices in the state soared due to the ban, leading the apex court to pass another order in 2021 allowing leases for sand mining with necessary safeguards and restrictions. No mining would be permitted below the river water level, it said.
The India Today report had pointed out that the state government, however, “was seen as restoring the leases without implementation of the court’s directives, even allowing use of heavy machinery for excavation of sand”.
‘Shortage of resources’
The recent May 4 order of the high court summoning the CBI director comes in the wake of a submission by the central agency that it is yet to investigate the cases “due to shortage of resources and insufficient support from the state government”.
As per a Times of India report, the CBI had informed the court that it had received a case of gravel theft from Bundi’s Sadar police station for investigation in April 2024. Also, the agency was tasked to probe the FIRs against gravel theft near Banas and Chambal rivers. “CBI said a supplementary chargesheet was filed in one case and informed the HC that about 416 gravel mining cases registered at various polices stations are yet to be investigated due to shortage of resources and insufficient support from state government”.
The news report said the court expressed disappointment and observed that “such limitations were unexpected from India’s premier investigating agency”.
The court now seeks clarifications from the CBI director through an appearance on March 17, added the report.
A political issue
Rampant mining, including illegal sand mining, has been a political issue in Rajasthan. In 2022, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), then in the opposition, had accused the then Congress government of “neglecting a long-pending public demand” to put an end to mining in the state after the self-immolation of a spiritual leader, Baba Vijay Das, in protest against mining in the state’s Bharatpur region.
However, the BJP, on coming to power in 2023, in the name of bringing in “ease of doing business”, allowed mining engineers to extend the lease period to thousands of leaseholders for quarrying minor minerals.
This past February, two BJP MLAs were also seen to be at loggerheads with each other over illegal mining in the state’s Baran district, with one accusing his own party’s government of not doing enough to prevent it.