Karnataka mining scam: SC panel to submit report today

The Central Empowered Committee (CEC), appointed by the Supreme Court to inquire into illegal mining and related cases in Karnataka, is likely to give its final report to the apex court tomorrow. The report would cover three cases relating to JSW Steel, Adani Enterprises and former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa.

In its report, the CEC is likely to state whether a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry is required on the bribery charges against Yeddyurappa.

Following an interlocutory application filed by Dharwad-based non-government organisation Samaja Parivartan Samudaya (SPS) for ordering a CBI inquiry into the nexus, the apex court had asked the CEC to recommend whether a CBI investigation was required.

The case relates to alleged illegalities, including bribing government officials by JSW Steel and Adani Enterprises, and the alleged denotification of land in Rachenahalli near Bangalore by Yeddyurappa.

SPS, the petitioner in the illegal mining case, which filed documents totalling 113 pages to the apex court to substantiate its allegations, had said in Yeddyurappa’s 60-month tenure as deputy chief minister and later, as chief minister, he and his family members had allegedly amassed assets worth Rs 339.57 crore. This, SPS had alleged, was disproportionate to their known sources of income. He was alleged to have denotified land and awarded government contracts.

“Considering the powerful corporations involved, like Adani Enterprises, and the influence these wield in the state and outside, the comprehensive investigation into these alleged serious misdeeds of Adani Enterprises could only be effectively conducted by an external agency like the CBI. We have urged the apex court to order a CBI inquiry into this matter,” S R Hiremath, founder president, SPS, told Business Standard.

According to final Lokayukta report submitted to the state government on July 27 2011, JSW Steel had received about 1.3 million tonnes of illegal ore by overloading, causing a loss of Rs 324 crore to the state exchequer. JSW, through its subsidiary South West Mining Company, had also paid a bribe of Rs 30 crore to the relatives of former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa in return for a favourable recommendation from the state government for sanctioning a captive mining lease.