Many IAS officers who worked as directors of the Mines and Geology Department in the state allegedly connived with a private company that violated laws by illegally mining iron ore in the reserve forests of Bellary district.
Lokayukta Justice Y Bhaskar Rao has now recommended disciplinary proceedings against those officials who were directors of the Mines and Geology Department between November 1986 and May 2010 for allowing illegal mining of iron ore by Kumaraswamy Mineral Exports Pvt Ltd in Sandur.
The report, prepared under Section 12 (3) of the Lokayukta Act, states that for 24 years, successive directors of the department “failed to maintain absolute devotion to duty and thereby committed misconduct under service rules and made themselves liable for disciplinary action.” It, however, does not name the officials.
The Lokayukta has also sent another report, prepared under Section 12 (1), recommending criminal proceedings against the company. It states that the company misrepresented facts and figures and had not paid around `86 crore to the government towards royalty.
S Mohammed Tanveer, a resident of Bellary, had filed a complaint with the Lokayukta in May 2010. The complainant stated that Kumaraswamy Mineral Exports Pvt Ltd had been carrying out illegal mining (more than 1.5 crore tonnes of iron ore) in the reserved forest area. He alleged that successive directors and secretaries to Commerce and Industries Department connived in the case.
Following a detailed enquiry, the Lokayukta found that Kumaraswamy Mineral Exports applied for a mining lease on November 14, 1986 over an extent of 259 hectares. The sketch appended to the application also showed that the area fell outside the reserved forest zone. However, later the sketch was redrawn and appended to the same application, which is in violation of Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Act, sources said.
The report states, “The area executed and the area wherein the mining activity took place is found to be within the reserved zone where high quality iron ore existed. The extraction of iron ore has taken place in the area not applied for. As observed by the present director, there is a thorough violation of rules and regulation in executing the mining lease.
“The directors of Mines and Geology Department who recommended the application from the date of the first mining lease and misled the government by holding that the said company’s lease and mining activity was in accordance with law, are responsible,” the report stated.
The Lokayukta has also directed the government to intimate within three months about the action taken against those responsible.
Chief Secretary Kaushik Mukherjee said that the report has not come to him. “It might have gone to the DPAR,” he said.