The report mentions the name of Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa, the Reddy brothers, another minister Sriramalu and former Chief Minister Kumaraswamy.
Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa stands indicted. The Lokayukta’s final report on illegal mining has lined him alongside the Bellary big boys — Janardhana Reddy, Karunakara Reddy — Sriramulu and minister V Somanna, stating that they were guilty under the Prevention of Corruption Act, and deserved to be prosecuted.
“I have submitted a copy of the report to governor HR Bharadwaj, too, for prosecuting the CM and his ministerial colleagues named in the report. Let me wait and see what action he initiates,” Karnataka Lokayukta N Santosh Hegde said.
Under the Lokayukta Act the state government has three months time to submit an action taken report to the Lokayukta on the report. Hegde made it quite apparent that he was sceptical and anticipated ‘cold storage’ treatment for the report from the BS Yeddyurappa government. And that’s why he also sent the report to governor HR Bharadwaj recommending prosecution in accordance with law.
Earlier, Lokayukta registrar Moosa Kunhi Nayar formally submitted the final report on illegal mining to the state chief secretary Ranganath, at Vidhana Soudha at 3.30pm.
Hegde said the 25,228-page report, with over 9,000 pages of documents, presents telltale details of how Rs16,085 crore worth of state’s iron ore resources were looted by illegal mining during the period between 2006 and 2010. “I have recommended recovery of every rupee of the loss inflicted on the exchequer.
Apart from Yeddyurappa and his four ministerial colleagues, the report has documented the involvement of former CM HD Kumaraswamy, Congress MP Anil Lad and BJP MLA Nagendra. Kumaraswamy has been indicted for recommending mining leases for two companies,” Hegde said.
The Lokayukta has detected irregularities and illegalities in mining, transportation and export of ore involving over 100 companies. He has recommended cancellation of their licenses, recovery of four times the market value of the ore from them and also other punishment. As for the all important cases involving the CM and his family members, the report has documented how South West Mining Company belonging to the Jindal Group donated Rs10 crore to Prerana Trust floated by the CM’s sons and son-in-law.
The report also points out how the company paid Rs20 crore for a 1-acre prime land at Rachenahalli in Bangalore to the CM’s family.
“The guidance value of an acre of land at Rachenahalli is Rs1 crore and payment of Rs20crore for the said land is extremely difficult to accept. There are discrepancies in the documents of the land purchase too. The abnormally high rate quoted for the land is unacceptable,” Hegde said.
The donations from the said company have come in the backdrop of the fact that reports pertaining to two associate companies were pending before the government. Interestingly, the money has been borrowed from another company for making the donations, he said. These donations have been made for other than genuine reasons. So the Lokayukta sleuths came to a conclusion that an offense under Prevention of Corruption Act had been committed.
As for the Reddys, who have been claiming all these years that they do not have mining interests in the state, the report calls their bluff by highlighting how they were engaged in mining in the state and in whose name, Hegde said.
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