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CBI to probe Reddy’s mining in Karnataka too
New Delhi/Bangalore, The Supreme Court Friday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation, already under its instruction to investigate illegal mining in Karnataka, to also probe allegations of illegal extraction by arrested mining baron G. Janardhana Reddy.
Charges of illegal extraction in Andhra Pradesh have landed Janardhana Reddy, a former Karnataka minister, in a Hyderabad jail.
Reddy, minister in the Bharatiya Janata Party’s B.S. Yeddyurappa-led government in Karnataka, has always asserted that his mining business was confined to Andhra Pradesh and that he was not mining in Karnataka.
The Yeddyurappa government, which went out July 31 and the D.V. Sadananda Gowda took over as chief minister, had rejected persistent demand from opposition parties and various civil society groups to have the CBI probe Reddy’s illegal mining in Karnataka.
The CBI arrested Reddy Sep 5 — along with B.V. Srinivasa Reddy, managing director of his Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC)– from Bellary for illegal mining in Andhra Pradesh.
They both are now lodged in Hyderabad’s Chanchalaguda jail.
The Supreme Court directive to the CBI followed a report by the Central Empowered Committee (CEC), appointed by it, that, contrary to Reddy’s claims, he and his wife owned the Associated Mining Company in Karnataka, which had indulged in illegal extraction in the state.
The apex court forest bench, headed by Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia, also ordered the CBI to probe the mining activity of the Deccan Mining Syndicate owned by S.M. Jain.
The Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S), which had been for years demanding a CBI probe into Reddy’s mining business, hailed the Supreme Court directive.
Chief minister Sadananda Gowda said his government would abide by the apex court’s decision.
“I will abide by the Supreme Court decision,” Gowda told reporters hours ahead of the decision. He was asked for reaction to the CEC’s recommendation to the court on Thursday for a CBI probe into illegal mining in Karnataka.
In its report to the Supreme Court, the CEC said that Reddy and his wife Laxmi Aruna had flouted norms to become owners of AMC and disregarded rules to get its mining lease extended.
The CEC found AMC had extracted one million tonnes of ore from just about 10.12 hectares whereas the transit permits had mentioned a lower figure.
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