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Krishna, others in Lokayukta line of fire
In what could spell trouble for the Congress and the Government it leads at the Centre, the Karnataka Lokayukta court on Saturday ordered a probe into a private complaint against External Affairs Minister SM Krishna over alleged illegal mining during his tenure as the Chief Minister. Besides Krishna, yet another former Chief Minister from the Congress N Dharam Singh, and his successor and JD (S) leader HD Kumaraswamy's role would also be probed.
The ghost of illegal mining, which has now come to haunt the Congress besides former CM BS Yeddyurappa's bête noire Kumaraswamy, is likely to change the political dynamics in the State.
Admitting the private complaint by Bangalore-based businessman TJ Abraham who alleged that Krishna, Singh and Kumaraswamy had allowed large-scale illegal mining when they were Chief Ministers. Lokayukta special court judge Justice NK Sudhindra Rao ordered an enquiry against the trio. The probe will also cover as many as 11 serving and retired officials. The judge ordered Lokayukta police chief Sathyanarayana Rao to submit his report by January 6, 2012.
Justice Sudhindra Rao, whose name sends shivers down the political circles, ordered the probe under Section 156(3) of CrPc (power to investigate cognizable case) and also asked the complainant to submit certain documents to the court.
The complainant accused the three former CM's of indulging in various acts of omission and commission of illegalities in relation to grant of leases for mining in the state during their tenure at the helm of the State.
While the order of the probe against two of its leaders is sure to put the Congress on the backfoot, in case of an adverse report Krishna's continuance in the Cabinet too would become untenable as the Opposition would not let go off any opportunity to corner the Government. At the State level too the BJP would now have a counter to take on the Congress-JD (S)' combined onslaught over the illegal mining issue.
The complaint stated that Krishna, during his tenure as chief minister, illegally amassed wealth in the name of his family members, and also in the names of his erstwhile close Cabinet colleagues, in return for de-reserving forest land for private companies.
The complaint accused Dharam Singh of issuing temporary transport permits for movement of iron ore and manganese ore from agricultural lands not held under the mining lease, and by violating rules. This has resulted in a loss of Rs 23.22 crore.
Kumaraswamy is accused of approving mining licence to Sai Venkateshwara Minerals and renewing the lease of Janthakal Enterprises illegally. The complaint accused him of diverting the illegal money, obtained through favours, in the name of his brother HD Balakrishna.
Krishna was the Chief Minister of Karnataka from 1999 to 2004 while Dharam was at the helm of affairs in the State, heading a Congress-JD-S coalition, from 2004 to 2006. Kumaraswamy, heading the JD-S-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition, succeeded him in 2006.
He was succeeded by Yeddyurappa for a brief period in November 2007 before the alliance collapsed. Yeddyurappa led his party to power in the 2008 Assembly polls and incidentally, had to quit as the Chief Minister in July this year following his indictment by the Lokayukta in alleged illegal mining scam and alleged misuse of his position to favour his sons in allotting prime land in Bangalore.
Abraham alleged that no action had been initiated against several politicians and officials, even though they had been implicated in the two reports of the Lokayukta on illegal mining in the State. The role of IAS officers Gangaram Baderiya, V Umesh, I R Perumal, Mahendra Jain, K S Manjunath (Retd), D S Ashwath (Retd), former IPS officer Jija Madhavan Hari Singh, former Director of Mines and Geology, Basappa Reddy, deputy general managers of Mysore Minerals Limited (MML) K Srinivas, M Ramappa and Shankarlingaiah too will be probed.
In what could spell trouble for the Congress and the Government it leads at the Centre, the Karnataka Lokayukta court on Saturday ordered a probe into a private complaint against External Affairs Minister SM Krishna over alleged illegal mining during his tenure as the Chief Minister. Besides Krishna, yet another former Chief Minister from the Congress N Dharam Singh, and his successor and JD (S) leader HD Kumaraswamy's role would also be probed.
The ghost of illegal mining, which has now come to haunt the Congress besides former CM BS Yeddyurappa's bête noire Kumaraswamy, is likely to change the political dynamics in the State.
Admitting the private complaint by Bangalore-based businessman TJ Abraham who alleged that Krishna, Singh and Kumaraswamy had allowed large-scale illegal mining when they were Chief Ministers. Lokayukta special court judge Justice NK Sudhindra Rao ordered an enquiry against the trio. The probe will also cover as many as 11 serving and retired officials. The judge ordered Lokayukta police chief Sathyanarayana Rao to submit his report by January 6, 2012.
Justice Sudhindra Rao, whose name sends shivers down the political circles, ordered the probe under Section 156(3) of CrPc (power to investigate cognizable case) and also asked the complainant to submit certain documents to the court.
The complainant accused the three former CM's of indulging in various acts of omission and commission of illegalities in relation to grant of leases for mining in the state during their tenure at the helm of the State.
While the order of the probe against two of its leaders is sure to put the Congress on the backfoot, in case of an adverse report Krishna's continuance in the Cabinet too would become untenable as the Opposition would not let go off any opportunity to corner the Government. At the State level too the BJP would now have a counter to take on the Congress-JD (S)' combined onslaught over the illegal mining issue.
The complaint stated that Krishna, during his tenure as chief minister, illegally amassed wealth in the name of his family members, and also in the names of his erstwhile close Cabinet colleagues, in return for de-reserving forest land for private companies.
The complaint accused Dharam Singh of issuing temporary transport permits for movement of iron ore and manganese ore from agricultural lands not held under the mining lease, and by violating rules. This has resulted in a loss of Rs 23.22 crore.
Kumaraswamy is accused of approving mining licence to Sai Venkateshwara Minerals and renewing the lease of Janthakal Enterprises illegally. The complaint accused him of diverting the illegal money, obtained through favours, in the name of his brother HD Balakrishna.
Krishna was the Chief Minister of Karnataka from 1999 to 2004 while Dharam was at the helm of affairs in the State, heading a Congress-JD-S coalition, from 2004 to 2006. Kumaraswamy, heading the JD-S-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition, succeeded him in 2006.
He was succeeded by Yeddyurappa for a brief period in November 2007 before the alliance collapsed. Yeddyurappa led his party to power in the 2008 Assembly polls and incidentally, had to quit as the Chief Minister in July this year following his indictment by the Lokayukta in alleged illegal mining scam and alleged misuse of his position to favour his sons in allotting prime land in Bangalore.
Abraham alleged that no action had been initiated against several politicians and officials, even though they had been implicated in the two reports of the Lokayukta on illegal mining in the State. The role of IAS officers Gangaram Baderiya, V Umesh, I R Perumal, Mahendra Jain, K S Manjunath (Retd), D S Ashwath (Retd), former IPS officer Jija Madhavan Hari Singh, former Director of Mines and Geology, Basappa Reddy, deputy general managers of Mysore Minerals Limited (MML) K Srinivas, M Ramappa and Shankarlingaiah too will be probed.
