Congress alleges mining lease scam in Goa, seeks FIR against CM

Congress on Thursday sought registration of cases against Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and his predecessor Laxmikant Parsekar for alleged illegality in granting and renewing mining leases in the state.

The Bharatiya Janata Pary government in the state allegedly hurriedly renewed 88 mining leases, before an amendment to an existing law made the auction route mandatory for allocation of mines, Goa Congress President Girish Chodankar told reporters. This, he alleged, caused losses to the state exchequer.

"The hurried renewals in 2014-2015 by successive BJP-led coalition governments, just before the Mineral and Mines Development and Regulation Act was amended to make auction mandatory, smacks of motives other than mineral development," Chodankar said after submitting a complaint against the duo to state police chief Muktesh Chander.

On Wednesday, the Congress filed a similar complaint with the state Chief Secretary, who is also the Chief Vigilance Officer, seeking registration of a First Information Report against Parrikar, Parsekar, and state government officials.

The Goa Lokayukta is probing a complaint filed by a local NGO Goa Foundation, which has alleged a Rs 1.44 lakh crore scam in the renewal of 88 mining leases. Former Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar is one of the accused.

Parsekar has denied any wrongdoing in the renewal process, claiming that the mining leases were renewed as per the policy.

--IANS

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