Mining: Congress demands Centre to intervene

The mining industry episode, which is taking on a new dimension every other day with allegations and counter-allegations flying thick and fast, has prompted the Congress party in Mysore district to launch an agitation here on July 31.

This is part of the statewide agitation launched by the party against the H D Kumaraswamy-led government demanding a CBI inquiry into the Rs 150 crore bribe charge levelled by suspended BJP legislators K Janardhan Reddy.

Announcing this at a press conference, senior Congress leader and former minister B K Chandrashekar drew the distinction between a CBI inquiry and a judicial inquiry, and said that the CBI is not an inquiring agency.

On the other hand, it is an independent agency with powers to prosecute without the government's consent.

"This is the crucial point. That is why we are demanding a CBI inquiry," he said, and added that a judicial inquiry can only find the facts. It cannot file cases against the guilty. The facts in this case are already there. Hence, it did not require a judicial inquiry.

So far, 28-30 such judicial inquiries had been conducted in the state. How many of them have been followed up? How many cases have been booked, the Congress legislator asked.

Chandrashekar charged that about 20-30 people were systematically looting the mining wealth of the state by obtaining lands across the state. How they could acquire these mining lands within such a short period, he wondered.

He urged the Centre to intervene immediately and institute an independent inquiry. He also pleaded for a separate commission of inquiry into the environmental destruction in Bellary being caused by illegal and extensive mining.

A similar demand for Centre's intervention was made by AIPJD leader Siddaramaiah, who has now joined the Congress.

At a press conference on Sunday, he charged that the tax revenue in the state had fallen and in particular in excise and commercial tax.

In Bangalore alone, the excise auction had fetched Rs 20 crore when he was the deputy chief minister, but now it had fallen to Rs 6 crore.