Jharkhand health minister Irfan Ansari appears in SC/ST land dispute case in Dumka

Dumka: Jharkhand Health minister Dr Irfan Ansari appeared on Tuesday before the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge III, Rajesh Sinha, in connection with a 3-year-old SC/ST case originally registered in Jamtara district in 2022.The next date of hearing of SC/ST Case No 06 of 2023, earlier registered as SC/ST Case No 08 of 2022 in Jamtara, arose out of a land dispute within the Narayanpur police station limits of Jamtara.In the FIR, a woman named Sushila Devi, belonging to the SC category, alleged that during the dispute the minister abused her using caste remarks. Relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and a specific section of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 were imposed.Ansari’s counsel, advocate Raja Khan, stated that the minister had no connection with the land in question and that he was falsely implicated in a dispute between the complainant and another party.Earlier, the minister approached the High Court seeking quashing of the criminal proceedings.However, in September 2024, the High Court observed that a prima facie case was made out against him and refused to quash the case, paving the way for the trial to continue in the Dumka court.The High Court, however, ordered to exempt Ansari from coercive steps against him.