Green activist urges CBI to expedite probe

Urges CBI to follow up on Supreme Court's orders on writ petitions over illegal mining in Karnataka

Founder president of Samaj Parivartan Samudaya (SPS) and National Committee for Protection of Natural Resources (NCPNR) S R Hiremath has urged the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to expedite the probe into illegal mining cases in on Karnataka-Andhra Pradesh border.

In a letter to the new CBI director Anil Sinha, petitioners Hiremath and P Vishnu Kamat have urged the CBI to follow up on Supreme Court’s orders on writ petitions over illegal mining in Karnataka.

Hiremath told reporters in Dharwad on Monday that he had sought an appointment with the new CBI director to explain to him the urgent need for expediting the probe into the alleged illegal mining, role of an advocate who was a counsel for the mining companies.

He also urged the CBI to strongly place its objections to the application filed by former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa seeking quashing of and setting aside the entire criminal proceedings against him. He said the SPS had filed PIL in Supreme Court in all these cases and the CBI should seek hearing of the cases on day-to-day basis to take the matter to the logical end.

Hiremath said the CBI should reveal what action it has taken to recover the massive amount of ill gotten wealth gained from illegal mining. He also questioned the CBI’s move to appoint an advocate who was representing an accused in illegal mining case as one of the standing counsel for CBI.

“The damage to the reputation of the CBI is unimaginable if this appointment is not terminated forthwith” Hiremath said in his letter to the CBI director.