BENGALURU: The Karnataka HC has upheld the 2016 order of Special Court for CBI cases in discharging two retired IAS officers and the executives of a mining company in an illegal mining case. The order was passed by Justice K. Somashekar while dismissing the revision petitions filed by the CBI, challenging Special Court’s January 30, 2016 order of discharging them from all the charges.
The CBI had challenged the discharge of Ritesh Milapchand Jain, Chief Executive Officer, Rajendra Kumar Jain, Managing Director, Deccan Mining Syndicate Private Limited, Ballari, N Vishwanathan, Retired Additional Chief Secretary and Development Commissioner of Karnataka, SP Raju, Retired Deputy Director, Mines and Geology, Hospet, Shameem Bhanu, Retired Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Commerce and Industries, Ramakant Y Hullar, Circle Inspector of Police, Dharwad.
The CBI filed had accused the above of hatching a criminal conspiracy in Bengaluru, Ballari, Hospet and other places in Karnataka during the period 1980-2010 to commit offences of cheating, iron ore theft, criminal trespass, changing the boundaries and criminal misconduct by abuse of their official positions.
“The Special Court has rightly come to the conclusion that there are no sufficient materials/evidence against the accused persons to proceed further in framing of charges and consequently they were discharged from the case. Therefore, in these petitions, there are no merits, or otherwise to say, there is no substance to call for interference of this court and no warranting circumstances have arisen for intervention of the impugned order passed by the trial court”, the court said.