Probe Yeddyurappa's role in mining scam: SC panel

CNN-IBN | 20-Apr 13:04 PM

New Delhi: In a major blow to former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa, Supreme Court's appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) has recommended a CBI probe against him for his alleged role in the mining scam.

The CEC said that there were gross irregularities in allotments of mining leases by the former Chief Minister and his relatives.

However, Yeddyurappa said, "The CEC is only a recommendatory authority, let SC take final decision."

Sources said that the panel has recommended that CBI probe money transfer to trusts run by the former chief minister's family members.

The high-level panel headed by PV Jayakrishanan, which has gone through voluminous documents submitted by Dharwad-based NGO Samaja Parivartana Samudaya (SPS), submitted its report to the apex court bench headed by Chief Justice SH Kapadia.

In what could be a serious indictment for the BJP's star campaigner in the southern state, the recommendation for the CBI probe will put Yeddyurappa's demand of reinstating him as the chief minister of Karnataka into a jeopardy.

The SPS which demanded a CBI probe into the alleged nexus between corporate houses and people in power, alleged that some of the land denotification done by Yeddyurappa when he was in power and subsequent sale of the properties to mining companies was nothing but quid pro quo.

Petitioners SR Hiremath and P Vishnu Kamath from SPS have alleged that over 12 firms and trusts run by family members of Yeddyurappa, including Prerana Trust, Bhagat Homes Private Limited, Davalagiri Property Developers Private Limited and Sahyadri Health Care Limited, received huge donations from mining companies in return for mining leases.

The SPS alleged that the said documents showed that companies belonging to family members of Yeddyurappa received Rs 6 crore from R Praveen Chandra, who got the mining lease in Chitradurga district. The NGO also submitted documents pertaining to Rachenahalli land denotification case to the CEC.

Earlier, Karnataka Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde had accused the former chief minister of not taking steps to stop illegal mining.

The Lokayukta report had indicted Yeddyurappa and his family in the illegal mining case. "We have pointed out illegal mining can be controlled but unfortunately no action has been taken. We had to examine over 4 lakh records and 50 lakh entries to produce this report which comes to 25,288 pages. The illegalities done have been described in 31 chapters. We have come to the conclusion that the loss caused is Rs 16,085 crore from 2006 to 2010," he had said.

After the Lokayukta report, the BJP strongman had to quit from his post.

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