HC fines collector and mining officer 50k for wrongful penalty

Bhopal: A division bench of the MP high court imposed a cost of Rs 50,000 on the district collector and mining officer of Chhindwara for using quasi-judicial powers without verifying the facts of a case and imposing a penalty on a wrong person.In its judgement delivered on Mar 13, 2026, the bench of Justice Vivek Rusia and Justice Pradeep Mittal observed "It is very unfortunate that the collector, being a senior IAS officer, did not care to examine the facts of the case and blindly accepted the report submitted by a subordinate mining officer. When there are provisions for imposing a heavy fine by a quasi - judicial officer, it is expected that he would decide the matter in a judicious manner." Petitioner Sarang Raghuvanshi said in his petition that a show cause notice was issued to him by the district collector in Jan 2025, following seizure of a truck illegally transporting minerals. In his reply, Raghuvanshi pleaded that he doesn't own the truck which was carrying the minerals illegally. However, based on the report presented by the district mining officer, the district collector Chhindwara did not verify ownership of the truck and on Jan 27, 2025, passed an order imposing a penalty on him.The court noted that the petitioner filed the registration details of the vehicle in question before the mining officer, according to which the vehicle is registered in the name of one Balveer Singh. The registration is valid up to Dec 18, 2027. Although the address and mobile number of the registered owner were mentioned therein, the mining officer did not make any effort to approach Balveer Singh.The court allowed the petition and imposed a cost of Rs 50,000, which it said would be recovered from the erring officials, after noting that the collector did not examine the facts of the case.