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Shettar sets record straight
For the first time the ruling BJP Government in Karnataka has acted on the report on illegal mining submitted by then Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde in 2011. In a written reply to the star question by Tanvir Sait of the Congress during the ongoing session of the Karnataka State Assembly on Tuesday, Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar said the Government has initiated the process of action against 257 State Government officials along with five senior IAS officers and an IFS officer on the basis of the Lokayukta report on illegal mining.
Answering the star question in the Assembly, the CM said 40 State Government officials have been suspended, 257 issued show-cause notices and 66 transferred out of Bellary. Five IAS officers who have been named in the report have been issued notices and one IFS officer has been suspended.
Then Lokayukta Justice (retd) N Santosh Hegde had submitted the preliminary report on illegal mining on December 18, 2008 and the final report on July 27, 2011, and Sait wanted to know the action initiated by the Government on their recommendations.
Shettar said show-cause notices have been issued to five IAS and one IPS officers and disciplinary action taken against three officials of Mysore Minerals Ltd. “After the Lokayukta reports, we have taken all action. There is no question of shielding anybody,” the CM said.
Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah (Congress) said the loss to the State exchequer because of illegal mining and non-payment of royalty is to the tune of `20,000 crore. “Message has gone out that the Government is trying to cover up... and there is debate in the public domain,” he said. “The Government should take action without hesitation, without coming under influence and pressure.”
Sait sought a detailed discussion on the issue of illegal mining and the Government action and Speaker K G Bopaiah agreed to a half-hour debate at a later time.
In his reply, the Chief Minister also said the Government, as per the recommendation of the Lokayukta, auctioned iron ore confiscated in Bellary, Chitrdurga and Tumkur and got `39.4 crore out of 6,50,762 metric tonnes of ore.
The illegal mining report submitted by Lokayukta justice Santosh Hegde has created turbulence in the ruling BJP and its first Chief Minister in the south BS Yeddyurappa who had to resign and face the heat from the CBI.
On Monday night, Anti-Corruption Bureau sleuths in Hyderabad arrested Karnataka MLA TH Suresh Babu, a close aide of Bellary strongman Gali Janardhana Reddy. Kampli MLA Babu, an accused in the cash-for-bail scam, was arrested on his way to meet an advocate over his anticipatory bail. The team laid a trap near advocate V Surendar Rao’s house in Ashok Nagar in Hyderabad.
The ACB has named eight people as accused in a scam in which suspended CBI judge T Pattabhirama Rao was bribed for granting bail to Gali Janardhana Reddy, prime accused in the Obulapuram Mining Company scam currently being probed by the CBI. Janardhana Reddy’s brother Gali Somashekara Reddy is also an accused in the cash-for-bail case.
For the first time the ruling BJP Government in Karnataka has acted on the report on illegal mining submitted by then Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde in 2011. In a written reply to the star question by Tanvir Sait of the Congress during the ongoing session of the Karnataka State Assembly on Tuesday, Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar said the Government has initiated the process of action against 257 State Government officials along with five senior IAS officers and an IFS officer on the basis of the Lokayukta report on illegal mining.
Answering the star question in the Assembly, the CM said 40 State Government officials have been suspended, 257 issued show-cause notices and 66 transferred out of Bellary. Five IAS officers who have been named in the report have been issued notices and one IFS officer has been suspended.
Then Lokayukta Justice (retd) N Santosh Hegde had submitted the preliminary report on illegal mining on December 18, 2008 and the final report on July 27, 2011, and Sait wanted to know the action initiated by the Government on their recommendations.
Shettar said show-cause notices have been issued to five IAS and one IPS officers and disciplinary action taken against three officials of Mysore Minerals Ltd. “After the Lokayukta reports, we have taken all action. There is no question of shielding anybody,” the CM said.
Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah (Congress) said the loss to the State exchequer because of illegal mining and non-payment of royalty is to the tune of `20,000 crore. “Message has gone out that the Government is trying to cover up... and there is debate in the public domain,” he said. “The Government should take action without hesitation, without coming under influence and pressure.”
Sait sought a detailed discussion on the issue of illegal mining and the Government action and Speaker K G Bopaiah agreed to a half-hour debate at a later time.
In his reply, the Chief Minister also said the Government, as per the recommendation of the Lokayukta, auctioned iron ore confiscated in Bellary, Chitrdurga and Tumkur and got `39.4 crore out of 6,50,762 metric tonnes of ore.
The illegal mining report submitted by Lokayukta justice Santosh Hegde has created turbulence in the ruling BJP and its first Chief Minister in the south BS Yeddyurappa who had to resign and face the heat from the CBI.
On Monday night, Anti-Corruption Bureau sleuths in Hyderabad arrested Karnataka MLA TH Suresh Babu, a close aide of Bellary strongman Gali Janardhana Reddy. Kampli MLA Babu, an accused in the cash-for-bail scam, was arrested on his way to meet an advocate over his anticipatory bail. The team laid a trap near advocate V Surendar Rao’s house in Ashok Nagar in Hyderabad.
The ACB has named eight people as accused in a scam in which suspended CBI judge T Pattabhirama Rao was bribed for granting bail to Gali Janardhana Reddy, prime accused in the Obulapuram Mining Company scam currently being probed by the CBI. Janardhana Reddy’s brother Gali Somashekara Reddy is also an accused in the cash-for-bail case.
