BENGALURU: “If the home minister feels helpless in taking action to curb the illegal sand mining by mafia, there cannot be any hope that the said illegal activity of sand mining in the State can be curbed by the State machinery.
It is a serious issue and it requires a Court monitored investigation by a Central Agency or a Specially Constituted Investigating Agency or a Special Investigation Team (SIT),” the Karnataka High Court said.
A division bench of Justices DK Singh and Tara Vitasta Ganju made the serious remarks in an order passed while taking up suo motu cognisance of media reports on Home Minister Dr G Parameshwar’s statement in the Assembly on January 28.
The court issued the notice to the Home Department, Mines and Geology and the Department of Forest, Environment & Ecology and asked them to file a response within three weeks. News reports on January 18 stated that the home minister said in the Assembly that many big and influential people from across political parties are involved in illegal sand mining, but he expresses his helplessness in curbing the menace.