Jharkhand HC Directs Technical Establishments To Inspect Suspected Uranium Seized By Police
|Justice SK Dwivedi of the Jharkhand High Court has directed three leading technical establishments to examine 4.5 kg of a silver-grey substance, suspected to be uranium, recovered by Bokaro police in June this year.
The direction was issued during the hearing of the bail application of an accused on Thursday.
Expressing serious concern over the manner in which the suspected uranium was earlier examined by a UCIL team without informing the judicial magistrate in whose court the case is pending, the High Court asked the technical establishments to carry out the exercise.
Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research Kalpakkam, and Tamil Nadu and Raja Ramana Centre for Advanced Technology, Indore have been asked to inspect the sample.
Hearing the bail application of Krishna Kant Rana, the Court observed that in course of the investigation, the sample was earlier examined by an expert committee of the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) in Jadugora.
The Court said in its order that the material will be collected in the presence of the chief judicial magistrate of Bokaro and the judicial magistrate where the case is pending.
Information on the collection of the seized mineral by the experts will be given to the Principal District Judge Bokaro and will be done in presence of the deputy commissioner of Bokaro, the Judge said.
The report of the leading establishments will be presented before the High Court in a pen drive kept in a sealed cover.
The Bench further said that the entire proceedings will be recorded on video by the district administration. The authorities will also provide adequate safety measures to ensure that judicial officers present at the time of collection are safe from possible effects of radiation.
About 4.5 kg of the mineral was recovered from the possession of seven miscreants who were arrested during raids conducted in Bokaro district. A case was lodged with the Harla police station in this regard under various sections of the IPC and the Atomic Energy Act.
The case will be heard on December 16.
With PTI inputs