HC seeks report on action suspended IAS officer took against mining mafia

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court (HC) Friday issued notice to the union and Uttar Pradesh governments on a PIL against the suspension of IAS official Durga Shakti Nagpal.

The HC asked the state government details of action taken by Nagpal, erstwhile SDM of Noida, against illegal mining mafia.

Ashok Pandey, counsel for petitioner social activist Nutan Thakur, told IANS that the court had sought details on the number of dumpers the official had seized during her tenure, the number of cases she slapped on people, their names and the action taken against such mafia after she was suspended.

Taking a strong view on illegal mining, the HC asked both the state and union governments to brief it about the action taken against illegal mining mafia, including details right from the challan to the filing of first information reports (FIRs).

The court also said that the matter was between employers and the employee and observed it would not directly intervene as the official had herself not represented the case.

The court fixed Aug 19 as the next date of hearing in the matter.