when the Jharkhand High Court (hc) asked state pollution control board chairperson Balmukund Nath Shahdeo to assist it during the hearing of a pollution case relating to an industrial unit near Dhanbad, the official was blissfully ignorant of the matter.

This prompted the hc to delve into his antecedents. Shahdeo's appointment came under scrutiny when it was found that he was merely a matriculate. A division bench comprising Chief Justice V K Gupta and Justice V Narayan questioned the validity of a