Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee president Sachin Pilot on Friday demanded for a judicial inquiry into the scam involving the State’s mining department.
Reacting to the recent arrest of senior IAS officer Ashok Singhvi by the State Anti Corruption Bureau in a bribery case involving clearance for reopening of six closed mines of a miner, Mr. Pilot said that the crime could not have committed without “patronage from government“.
“It is not possible for an officer to run such a big scam without a patronage from the government. Kingpin of the scam must be exposed,” he said.
The Congress leader also demanded that Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje’s role should be probed as the arrested officer was said to be close to her.
A judicial inquiry in the matter headed by a sitting high court judge should be ordered, he said.
Eight persons, including the senior IAS officer and Principal Secretary of mines department Ashok Singhvi and two other officers of his department, were arrested by the ACB on Thursday in connection with a bribery case involving Rs 2.55 crore.
Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot also demanded the resignation of Raje over the mines scam.
“There was one Lalit Modi during her previous tenure who was running the government but this time there are several invisible Lalit Modi and one of them came to light in the bribery case,” he told reporters.
He said that a fair probe can be conducted in the issue only when the Chief Minister resigns.
“Expose of the bribery case in mines department is a good beginning against corruption but it will reach to its logical end only after a fair probe..... and a fair probe will be possible only after CM’s resignation,” Mr. Gehlot said. - PTI
