Mining scam: Goa to file FIRs against two former CMs

A day after Shah Commission’s report on Goa’s illegal mining was tabled in the Parliament, the state government has decided to file FIRs against two former chief ministers and scores of bureaucrats for their alleged involvement in the mining scam. Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar told reporters today FIRs would be filed against former chief ministers Pratap Singh Rane and Digambar Kamat, the then directors of mines, then secretaries of mines, officials of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest and that of Indian Bureau of Mines, within 15 days.

“The FIRs would be based on the findings of the Shah Commission which has pegged illegal mining in Goa to the tune of Rs 35,000 crore,” he said, adding all those indicted by the Commission would be named in the FIR.

The state government will soon decide on whether to file FIR with the crime branch police or Anti Corruption Bureau of the state vigilance department, he said, adding officials from MoEF and IBM, who gave environment clearances to mines without verifying facts, would also be probed during investigation.

Responding to a query as to how the state could file FIRs against officials working at the Centre, he said, “The offence has taken place in Goa and is related to Goa, so we have all the powers to prosecute the guilty in the state,’.

The Shah Commission which probed the mining scam in its report has blamed the state chief ministers and mines ministers between 1994 and 2010 for the alleged illegalities.