Mining case: SC asks SIT to probe role of two former Karnataka CMs

March 30, 2017

New Delhi, Mar 30: The Supreme Court today asked the Karnataka police SIT to probe the alleged role of two former chief ministers N Dharam Singh and H D Kumaraswamy and others in de-reservation of 11,797 square kilometres of forest in Bellary district, leading to large-scale illegal iron ore mining.

Kumaraswamy
However, another former chief minister S M Krishna, who has recently joined the BJP, got relief as the apex court said that the investigation against him "shall remain stayed" and granted three months time to the SIT to file the report before it after probing the roles of other two CMs and former and serving bureaucrats.

The probe against Krishna was stayed by the apex court on November 16, 2016 on grounds including that the then Lokayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde had not found any evidence against him.

A bench of Justices P C Ghose and R F Nariman, meanwhile, restrained all other courts including the high court from passing any order in the matter and said, "We will keep it pending and we want to monitor it."

During the day-long hearing, the court said it wanted to see "some action" in the case as there was "no action" taken on the reports of the lokayukta.

Abraham T Joseph, a businessman and activist, had approached the trial court seeking registration of an FIR against various persons including the three former chief ministers alleging that they connived with several bureaucrats and others in de-reservation of 11,797 square kilometres of forest in Bellary district of Karnataka which led to large-scale illegal iron ore mining.

Initially, the court said there cannot be a "parallel investigation" by the state police after the lokayukta, which has investigating powers under the state statute, has probed the case and filed its reports with the executive authorities.

The bench did not agree with the submission that the probe against Krishna be also allowed, saying that there was nothing against the former chief minister in the lokayukta reports.

"The Gaikawad report says the chief minister (Krishna), who was in the office from 1999 to 2004, was hoodwinked by the bureaucrats," the bench said, adding that the "veracity of allegations against accused one (Krishna) is not substantiated".

The counsel for Kumaraswamy opposed the submission, saying that it would amount to parallel proceedings.

"We are not disposing of the petition. If you have any problem, you can come to us," the bench told the counsel for JD(S) leader Kumaraswamy. Earlier, a local court had ordered registration of FIRs against former chief ministers S M Krishna, N Dharam Singh and H D Kumaraswamy in connection with alleged illegal mining. This order was unsuccessfully challenged in the Karnataka High Court.

Krishna had then moved the apex court and got a stay on the investigation on grounds including that he has not been indicted by the lokayukta. Joseph, in his complaint, had accused Krishna of destroying the state's natural resources for personal gain, while serving as the chief minister by dereservation of the forest areas which led to the illegal mining scam.

Besides the three former CMs, various senior officials were accused of conspiracy and corruption. It was alleged that Dharam Singh ordered issuance of temporary transport permits for the movement of iron and manganese ore from agricultural patta lands, resulting in a loss of Rs 23.22 crore to the government.

The complaint had further alleged that Kumaraswamy had illegally approved a mining lease in 550 acres of land in favour of Shree Sai Venkateshwara Minerals and committed illegalities relating to Jantkal Mining Company.

Senior officials named in the complaint by Joseph included Gangaram Baderia, Basappa Reddy, I R Perumal, Jija Harisingh, Mahendra Jain, K S Manjunath, Ramappa, Shankarlingaiah and V Umesh.

The lokayukta had submitted its reports to the authorities and so far, no criminal proceedings have been intiated.

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News Network
March 17,2024

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Bengaluru: The Vokkaliga heartland of the old Mysuru region consisting of several southern districts will be the testing ground for the recently forged BJP-JD(S) alliance in Karnataka in the Lok Sabha polls.

The ruling Congress will now look to consolidate its gains that it made in the assembly elections in May last year when it made inroads into the strongholds of the regional party headed by former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda in these districts.

In the 2019 Pariamentary elections, the Congress and JD(S) fought together but secured only one seat each in the state. The BJP bagged 25 out of the total 28 Lok Sabha seats.

The Congress and JD(S) win, in fact, came in the old Mysuru region -- Bangalore Rural and Hassan, respectively, while Mandya seat went to an independent backed by the BJP.

This time, the JD(S) has an alliance with BJP. According to sources, the JD(S) is likely to be alloted Hassan, Mandya and Kolar seats in the region, from where Deve Gowda's party draws its strength from in Karnataka.

The JD(S) is now looking to bounce back after the drubbing it received in the May assembly polls.

The Congress and JD(S) are considered to be traditional rivals in the region, where the BJP has also been improving its vote-share.

The BJP-JD(S) alliance hopes to counter the Congress' surge in the region, determined to consolidate Vokkaliga votes in their favour and banking on the Modi charisma. Both parties also hope to gain from each other with this alliance.

The Congress is hoping to further its prospects and continue its dominance in the region, with the help of its strong local leadership and riding on its five guarantee schemes.

Both Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Congress state President D K Shivakumar, who is also the Deputy Chief Minister come from this region, and so does JD(S) patriarch Deve Gowda and his son H D Kumaraswamy, a former CM and that party's state President.

According to a political analyst, 'coordination among local leaders and transfer of votes between the parties are going to be key for the BJP-JD(S) alliance to click.' Lack of trust between sizeable workers and leaders of both parties on the ground had proved to be counterproductive for Congress and JD(S) combine in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, resulting in their rout and helping the BJP.

Both Congress and BJP have announced candidates for some seats in the region for the 2024 polls.

The Congress has re-nominated D K Suresh, brother of Shivakumar, from Bangalore Rural.

Interestingly, the BJP has fielded the scion of the erstwhile Mysuru royal family Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar from Mysore and noted cardiac surgeon and Deve Gowda's son-in-law, Dr C N Manjunath, from Bangalore Rural.

In Karnataka, the Lok Sabha elections will be held in two phases on April 26 and May 7.

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News Network
March 18,2024

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Mangaluru, Mar 18: The rising temperature has become a growing concern for residents of coastal district of Dakshina Kannada, as the issue of drinking water shortage continues to worsen in several parts. 

Though the water supply of Mangaluru city has not been affected much, nearby urban local bodies, including Ullal, Kotekar, Bajpe and other parts on the outskirts of Mangaluru have been facing an acute shortage of drinking water.

Though the water level in the Thumbe vented dam across Nethravati River has started going down in the last few days, officials have ruled out possibility of rationing the water supply in the city.

According to officials, the water level at Thumbe dam of the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) stood at 5.8 m as against the maximum storage capacity of 6m height on March 16. The water level at the dam during the same period last year was 5.3 metres. The water level reduced from 5.9 m on March 15 to 5.8 m on March 16 due to the scorching heat, causing evaporation.

The MCC has been drawing 160 MLD of water from the Thumbe vented dam. According to officials, without inflow, the maximum water stored in the dam will be sufficient for only 50 days. Meanwhile, the MCC has already started pumping backwater from downstream of the Thumbe vented dam back to the dam using pumpsets. Water from Thumbe dam can be drawn only if it has more than 1.5m of water in it.

DC Mullai Muhilan MP said that the district administration is closely monitoring water levels in all the dams that supply water.

The AMR dam located upstream of Thumbe dam has 18 m of water from sea level. If the water level in the Thumbe vented dam recedes, then water from the AMR dam will be released into the Thumbe dam. There is water in a dam at Biliyoor, which is located upstream of the AMR dam, the DC said.

“Drawing water for irrigation purposes from Thumbe and AMR dams has been banned,” the deputy commissioner said, adding that an order in this regard has already been issued. Some of the pockets in rural areas too have started facing water crisis.

“We have made arrangements to supply water through tankers in Ullal, Kotekar and Bajpe areas. We will not introduce water supply rationing in MCC limits for the time being,” he said and appealed to citizens to use water judiciously.

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News Network
March 26,2024

Bengaluru: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has detained two suspects in connection with the Rameshwaram Cafe blast case in Bengaluru, sources confirmed on Tuesday.

The preliminary probe has revealed that the two suspects were in direct contact with the suspected bomber.

The NIA sleuths have picked up the suspects from an area in the state capital. However, a statement is yet to be made by the NIA in this regard.

Even as the investigating agencies, both NIA and state special wing CCB teams have launched an extensive search operation in various states, the bomber has remained elusive. The authorities had obtained the bomber’s images and videos from CCTV footage on March 1, soon after the incident.

Sources said that the sleuths were suspecting that the bomber had come from Tamil Nadu and was staying in a neighbouring state for two months before carrying out the blast.

The hair samples of the accused were gathered from the hat of the accused which he abandoned in Bengaluru near a religious place. The authorities have sent the samples for the DNA testing and were hoping for a breakthrough.

The Rameshwaram Cafe bomb blast took place on March 1 on the International Technology Park Limited (ITPL) road in the Brookfield area. Low intensity Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was used to carry out the blast and nine persons were injured in the incident.

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