The Supreme Court, which on Friday ordered a CBI probe against former Karnataka CM B.S. Yeddyurappa for 'serious illegalities' in mining activities in which he allegedly 'misused his public office' for monetary benefits, has noted there was 'an unfortunate state of affairs' prevailing for a 'considerable time' during which forest wealth and minerals were illegally exploited by a nexus involving politicians and corporate entities.

The order came on the recommendation of the court-appointed Central Empowered Committee. Excerpts of the CEC reports on three charges against BSY and his kin say:

1 Lease issued to R. Praveen Chandra to mine in Chitradurga district in 2009-10: The Samaj Parivartan Samudaya complained that the State government issued the notification for grant of lease to Mr Praveen Chandra on 12-10-2010. Mr Chandra made two payments, one of `2.5 crore to Messrs Bhagat Homes Pvt Ltd, and the other of Rs 3.5 crore to Messrs Dhavalagiri Property Developers Pvt Ltd, as a quid pro quo for allotment of mining lease.

The payments are shown in the balance sheets of these two companies. It is recommended that this honorable court may consider directing the investigating agency such as the CBI to investigate the payments made by the lessee to these two companies whose directors/ shareholders are close relatives of the then Chief Minister, Karnataka, and whether there was any link between such payments and grant of mining lease to Mr Praveen Chandra.

2 Donation to Prerana Education Society: The Prerana Education Society, set up by close relatives of the then Chief Minister, Karnataka, received a donation of Rs 10 crore from Messrs South West Mining Ltd, a Jindal Group company, in March 2010.

After considering that a number of allegations, with supporting documents, have been made in the report dated July 27th, 2011, of Karnataka Lokayukta regarding Messrs JSW Steel Ltd having received large quantities of illegal mineral and alleged undue favour shown to it in respect of extraction/ supply of iron ore by/ to it from the mining leases of Mysore Minerals Ltd, it is recommended that this honorable court direct the investigating agency such as CBI to look into the linkages, if any.

3 Misuse of office: Mr B.Y. Vijayendra and Mr R.N. Sohan Kumar, the son and son-in-law of Mr Yeddyurappa, sold 0.5 acre purchased by them for Rs 20 lakh in 2006 to Messrs South West Mining Ltd for Rs 10 crore. Similarly, Mr B.Y. Raghavendra, another son, also sold 0.5 acre purchased by him in 2006 for Rs 20 lakh to Messrs South West Mining Ltd for Rs 10 crore.

It is recommended that a detailed investigation may be directed to be carried out in the matter by an independent investigating agency such as the CBI and to take follow-up action. This agency may also be directed to investigate into other similar cases, if any, of land denotified from acquisition by BDA and illegalities/irregularities/procedural lapses, if any.

Past may come back to haunt 3 former chief ministers
A sword hangs over the heads of three former Chief Ministers with the CEC seeking the State’s response to a petition by T. J. Abraham seeking a CBI probe into irregularities in the mining policy of the State. The Supreme Court while passing the Friday order categorically stated that the CEC can bring any related instance to the green bench.

Social activist Abraham T. J., who had filed a private complaint before the Lokayukta special court here, had filed an application before the CEC requesting that it recommend a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation against three former Chief Ministers – S M Krishna, Dharam Singh and H. D. Kumaraswamy for violating the state mining policy.

The SC on Friday stated, “As far as the challenge to the enlargement of jurisdiction by the CEC beyond the reference made by the Court is concerned, the said contention is again without any substance. We have referred to the various orders of this Court. The ambit and scope of proceedings before this Court, pending in the writ petition and civil appeal clearly show that the Court is exercising a very wide jurisdiction in the national interest, to ensure that there is no further degradation of the environment or damage to the forests and so that illegal mining and exports are stopped.’’

Mr Abraham on Friday said he hoped the same recommendations would be made on his application. The SC also held that it was in fact an ‘obligation’ on the part of the CEC to refer all matters pertaining to illegal mining in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Proceedings in courts stayed

The Supreme Court, while ordering a CBI probe against former chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, his kin and others, has also stayed similar cases pending before the Lokayukta court and investigating agencies. The Lokayukta court has been hearing alleged illegal denotification of land in Rachenahalli and alleged kickback received from Praveen Chandra.

The SC stated that proceedings pending before the trial court lacked complete facts. “The CEC report has brought new facts, subsequent events and unquestionable documents on record to substantiate its recommendations.

The subsequent facts, inquiry and resultant suspicion, therefore, are the circumstances for directing further and specialised investigation. All the proceedings in relation to these items, if pending before any Court, shall remain stayed till further orders of this Court.

“The CBI shall complete its investigation and submit a report to the court of competent jurisdiction with a copy of the report to be placed on the file of this Court within three months,” SC said.

The apex court also directed the CBI to inspect the records of any connected matter pending before any investigating agency or any court pertaining to the said offences.

“Any investigation being conducted by any agency other than the CBI shall also not progress any further, restricted to the items stated in the order, except with the leave of the court,” it stated.