BJP MLA facing contempt case for calling up HC judge denied exemption from appearance

Bhopal/Jabalpur: A division bench of MP high court on Thursday refused to exempt Sanjay Pathak, BJP MLA from Vijayraghavgarh constituency in Katni district and former minister, from personal appearance in the court during the hearing of a contempt petition against him.

Pathak is facing contempt of court proceedings for making a phone call to a judge of the MP high court, Justice Vishal Mishra, who was seized of a case relating to illegal mining by a company in which Pathak’s mother and son are directors. Justice Mishra had recused himself from hearing of the case after disclosing that Pathak had made him a phone call in relation to the case.

Pathak, also known as a mining baron in political circles, was present in the court during hearing of the petition on Thursday and requested the court to exempt him from personal appearance during further hearings of the case, but the court turned down the request while deferring hearing of the case to July 15.

The division bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vinay Saraf had ordered criminal contempt proceedings against Pathak in response to a petition filed by Ashutosh Dixit, also a resident of Katni. In his petition, Dixit said that Justice Mishra disclosed in the open court that Pathak had tried to influence him by making a phone call and recused himself from the case in which Pathak’s mother and son were a party. Dixit was the complainant in the illegal mining case in question as well. The bench had later decided to hear the case as a suo motu petition against Pathak for the contempt of court.