Case filed against three ex-CMs for facilitating illegal mining

External Affairs Minister SM Krishna and two other former Karnataka
chief ministers, HD Kumaraswamy and Dharam Singh, are in trouble as
the Lok Ayukta police on Thursday filed an FIR against the trio on a
complaint accusing them of facilitating illegal mining during their
tenure in the state.

Apart from the three political leaders, the Lok Ayukta police have
also named 11 senior government officials in the FIR filed under
various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, Forest
Conservation Act, the Forest Act and the Minerals and Metals
Regulation and Development Act (MMRDA) and the Indian Penal Code.

The accused officials include IAS and IPS officials who served as
managing directors of state owned Mysore Minerals Ltd (MML) — Mahendra
Jain, Jija Madhavan Hari Singh (IPS), DS Aswath, KS Manjunath, IR
Perumal,V Umesh and Basappa Reddy, the then director of mines and
geology department.

The complaint was filed by TJ Abraham on December 3. Lok Ayukta court
judge NK Sudhindra Rao then directed the police to investigate and
submit the report by January 6.

The complainant has alleged that Krishna, who was chief minister from
October 1999 to May 2004, and Dharam Singh and Kumaraswamy permitted
illegal mining for pecuniary gains.

Abraham, a Bangalore-based social activist and a businessman,
submitted that his complaint was based on the report on illegal mining
presented to the government by the then Lok Ayukta, Santosh Hegde, in
August 2011.

The complainant has further alleged that Krishna illegally amassed
wealth in the name of his family members, including his children and
in-laws, as also in the names of his erstwhile close cabinet
colleagues.

Kumaraswamy has been accused of recommending grant of mining licence
for Jantakal Mining Company with intentions of seeking pecuniary
benefits. As for the case against Dharam Singh, the then governor
Rameshwar Thakur had dropped action against him when the state was
under the President's rule in 2007.

Reacting to the developments, former chief minister and JD(S) leader
HD Kumaraswamy expressed confidence that he would come clean from the
case. "I have been waging a war against corruption. This is a
conspiracy to stop me from continuing this battle against corruption,"
he said.

Former chief minister Dharam Singh said he was ready to submit an
explanation to Congress high command if he was asked to explain.