National Committee for Protection of Natural Resources (NCPNR) convenor S R Hiremath on Tuesday urged the Karnataka government to approach the Supreme Court and plead for court-monitored CBI enquiry into the illegal mining in the State.
“Court-monitored CBI enquiry alone can lead to effective and decisive action against influential politicians and officials who either connived with mining mafia and exhibited dereliction of duty by inaction,” he told reporters here.
Asked whether he hoped Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda and State Advocate General B V Acharya would plead for Supreme Court’s intervention, Mr. Hiremath said it was a matter of getting “their act together” to seek court-monitored CBI enquiry.
“I don’t think a responsible government should put itself in a situation where they are ordered by the Supreme Court to perform their duties ... we will give all necessary support to the government,” he added.
Mr. Hiremath also urged Mr. Gowda, Dr. Acharya and Lokayukta Shivaraj V Patil to implement former Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde’s report on illegal mining and take action against those involved in the case irrespective of political parties.
Coming down heavily on the BJP leadership, he charged that instead of welcoming the arrest of mining magnate G Janardhan Reddy, the party, including Mr. Gowda, showed “keeness” to accord support to him.
Asked whether CBI action was enough to curb illegal mining, Mr. Hiremath said the Income Tax department and Enforcement Directorate should also focus on the tax evasions and hawala transactions made by those involved in illegal mining.
The CBI advocates should also present their cases effectively, he added.
Mr. Hiremath said the NCPNR, Jana Sangram Parishat (JSP) and like-minded organisations would launch a ‘Satyagraha’ on Sept 9 in Tumkur to protest against illegal mining activities that he said is prevalent in Chitradurga and Tumkur districts.
As many as 126 companies were involved in illegal mining in Bellary and it was true even in Chitradurga and Tumkur districts, Mr. Hiremath claimed.
“Entire list (of the companies) has been provided by the 4-member panel comprising of Lokayukta official U V Singh and others,” he added.
