Jaipur, Dec. 2 -- The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a petition filed by former state minister and Congress leader Shanti Dhariwal challenging the Rajasthan high court's November 1 order to continue the hearing of the protest petitions in the trial courts against the closure reports in the high profile Ekal Patta case, while the state may also re-evaluate the case. Appearing for the Rajasthan government, the additional advocate general, Shiv Mangal Sharma, said, "In the alleged Ekal Patta land allotment scam, the Supreme Court bench of Justice JK Maheshwari and Justice Vijay Bishnoi on Monday declined to entertain the Special Leave Petition filed by former Rajasthan minister Shanti Dhariwal. While declining to interfere with the Rajasthan High Court's order dated 01.11.2025, the Supreme Court also clarified that no coercive action shall be taken against Shanti Dhariwal until the pending protest petitions are decided by the Trial Court." The Ekal Patta case centres on allegations of corruption in granting a single lease for valuable land in Jaipur to Ganpati Constructions. Dhariwal and along with at least six officers of the UDH department and Jaipur Development Authority (JDA), were named in the case by the ACB based on a complaint in 2005 when JDA first approved the lease for a cooperative society managing the land. Later, the ACB also found that the lease was issued to Ganpati Constructions without disclosing a previous rejection, prompting complaints and investigations, said an official familiar with the matter. The ACB has also interrogated Dhariwal several times in the case, said officials. However, on July 19, 2022, the ACB submitted a closure report in the court stating that 'no irregularities was found in the case', dismissing all the charges against Dhariwal and other officials. The HC's orders came based on this reports. However, following the development the complainant of the case Ashok Pathak filed an SLP in the Supreme Court pleading to revoke the Rajasthan HC order and launch a fresh probe in 2023. Despite BJP coming to the power in December 2023, the government remained firm on its previous stance. "The government on April 2024, further submitted the ACB report dropping all the charges against Dhariwal. However, after I took over the charge in the same month as an AAG, I found a few lapses in the proceeding and brought the government's notice," said Sharma. The AAG said that closure reports were filed in the HC without any consultation with the senior law department. "It was found that the ACB, in its closure report, said that the JDA issued the lease to the Ganapati Construction in 2005 but it was later rejected by the UDH department. But the rejection file was missing and could not be produced. In 2011, the lease was further issued to Ganapati Construction when Dhariwal was minister. It raises a suspicion and hence we have filed a fresh affidavit in the Supreme Court on Monday to re-evaluate the case," said Sharma. Following the development, the Rajasthan High Court on November 1, allowed the ACB to re-open the case and further investigate it. "The Supreme Court affirmed this framework by dismissing Dhariwal's plea. With today's dismissal, the matter now returns to the Special Court (PC Act), Jaipur, which will decide the protest petitions filed against the closure reports, rule on the State's application seeking withdrawal of the closure reports, consider any further investigation report submitted by the State, determine whether the case should proceed or be closed," said Sharma....