S M Krishna booked on illegal mining charges

Kumaraswamy, Dharam Singh too in the dock.

An FIR was registered against External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and two other former Karnatka chief ministers by the Lokayukta Police on Thursday on a private complaint alleging that they facilitated illegal mining during their tenure.

Apart from Krishna, his senior Congress colleague N Dharam Singh and JDS state unit President H D Kumaraswamy, who succeeded him as chief ministers, have been named in the FIR, Lokayukta ADGP Satyanarayana Rao said. Eleven bureaucrats have also been named in the FIR filed under under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, Forest Conservation Act, Forest Act and Minerals and Metals Regulation and Development Act (MMRDA) and IPC.

Admitting a private complaint filed by T J Abraham on December 3, Lokayukta Court Judge N K Sudhindra Rao had directed the police to investigate it and submit a report on or before January 6. The complainant has alleged Krishna, who was the Chief Minister from October 1999 to May 2004, and Dharam Singh and Kumaraswamy permitted illegal mining for pecuniary gains.

Abraham, a city-based social activist and a businessman, had submitted that his complaint was based on the report on illegal mining presented to the government by then Lokayukta Santosh Hegde in August.

With this, four former chief ministers are facing Lokayukta police probe based on private complaints. B S Yeddyurappa was released on bail last month after his arrest on a private complaint alleging irregularities in land denotifications to benefit his family members.