A SINGLE bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court comprising Justice Vishal Mishra has issued a notice to the Government of India (GoI), SECL management, the contracting company RKTC, the station in-charge at Dhanpuri in Shahdol, the Shahdol Collector, and the DGMs in Jabalpur. The petitioner’s wife has requested her husband’s body for cremation. Advocates Manoj Kushwaha and Kaushlendra Singh represented the peti tioner, Aarti Kushwaha, a resident of village Khajurhan in Mauganj district.

 

They argued that her husband, Anil Kushwaha, died on October 11, 2025, due to management negligence at the Amalai OCM in the Sohagpur area of South Eastern Coalfields Limited. He was a tripper and truck driv er. SECL had awarded the con tract to RKTC, and the petitioner’s husband was working under the contracting com pany. It had rained heavily that day. Despite this, the man agement and contracting com pany, in order to meet the tar get, engaged in earthworks without adherence to safety standards. The mine had been closed 15 years ago. It was 90 feet deep and filled with rain water.

 

Due to the rain, the soil surface was not solid. He fell down along with the tripper, resulting in his death. A rescue operation was conducted for 72 hours by the NDRF and SDRF. Ultimately, he was declared dead and a certificate was issued. Following the closure plan, after coal pro duction at OCM, the mine should be filled with earth and planted with trees, which was not done. SECL’s Sohagpur management did not close the mine as planned after coal extraction. Furthermore, the Government of India did not issue timely guidelines regard ing mine closure. No safety measures were taken at the time of the incident.

 

The man agement had also promised to return the deceased’s remains, i.e., the skeleton, within seven days. A panchnama was prepared, but all the water could not be drained. Even Dhanpuri police station has filed an FIR under minor sec tions against only five people. Those responsible for the incident have not been named as accused. The petition seeks an inves tigation under the Mines Act, compensation of Rs 40 lakh announced by the Coal Ministry of the Government of India, filing an FIR against the accused under the Indian Penal Code, handing over the body of the deceased, and closing the mine according to the closure plan, so that such incidents do not occur in the future.