In a recent turn of events, the Jharkhand High Court has imposed a fine of ₹1.25 lakh on Union Minister Arjun Munda. Presided over by Justice Rajesh Kumar, the bench decided to enforce this hefty penalty due to the failure to correct deficiencies in a petition filed by the Minister. The court has directed Arjun Munda to deposit the fine with the High Court's Advocate Clerk Association. Despite the imposition of the fine, the Jharkhand High Court has stayed punitive proceedings against the Central Agriculture Minister, granting him interim relief, and sought a response from the government regarding the matter. The next hearing of this case is scheduled for May 8th.
This issue dates back to a demonstration on April 11, 2023, during a march to the Secretariat, when an altercation occurred with the police involving the Central Minister and other BJP workers. On that fateful day, BJP leaders had staged a protest outside the Secretariat. A clash had erupted between the marching BJP workers and the police, leading the police to fire tear gas shells, utilize water cannons, and carry out a baton charge to prevent the protesters from reaching the Secretariat.
Why did the Jharkhand High Court Impose the Fine?
The fine is related to a complaint against key BJP figures including state president Babulal Marandi, Union Minister Arjun Munda, Godda MP Nishikant Dubey, Ranchi MP Sanjay Seth, and former Chief Minister Raghubar Das, among 41 others and numerous BJP workers, for violating prohibitory orders that had been filed at the Dhurwa police station. Munda had filed a criminal writ petition in the Jharkhand High Court to nullify that FIR. The petition contained errors, which the court had directed to be corrected. Despite this, Munda's lawyer presented the case for a hearing before Justice Rajesh Kumar's bench without addressing the mistakes.
Arjun Munda's lawyer, Prashant Pallav, shared that the petition had been filed just before the Holi holidays and was mentioned for an urgent hearing on April 2nd, the day the Jharkhand High Court reopened after the break. The petition had several errors, including a spelling error in the name of the police station—a mistake that the High Court instructed to be amended. However, the Union Minister's lawyer, Pallav, did not attend to these errors. Lawyer Prashant Pallav stated that he had prepared the necessary documents to correct the errors and had informed the court. Nevertheless, the court, taking cognizance of the mistakes in the petition, levied a fine of ₹1.25 lakh on petitioner Arjun Munda.
