BENGALURU: Even as the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has filed a protest petition against the Karnataka Lokayukta police’s decision to close the MUDA case against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, an activist has sought Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot’s sanction to prosecute Siddaramaiah for allegedly illegally renewing mining leases of eight companies in 2015 during his first tenure as chief minister.
The activist, Ramamurthy Gowda, submitted his petition last month, while the governor called him and held a thorough discussion on April 1. Gowda pointed out to the governor that the government recently constituted a special investigation team (SIT) to probe illegal mining activities of companies, including the eight firms.
In his petition, Gowda requested the sanction for prosecution under Section 218 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, and Sections 17A & 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, for granting in-principle approval and deemed extensions to ineligible companies with a history of illegal mining, in violation of Section 10A of Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act.
“I approached the Lokayukta 32 times and also moved the CBI court. Finally, I approached the governor with extensive documents with citations. The governor heard me for half-an-hour and forwarded the file to legal experts,” Gowda told TNIE over phone.
He alleged that Siddaramaiah renewed the eight mining leases instead of auctioning them, violating the gazetted notification issued by the Centre. He also charged that kickbacks might have played a role.
In 2015, the state government received 108 applications for deemed extension, but only the eight companies got the approval. These firms had a history of serious violations of mining laws and were earlier classified as Category C due to their involvement in illegal mining, as per the Santosh Hegde report and Supreme Court judgment, he said.
“Siddaramaiah allegedly granted the in-principle approval and deemed extensions in return for kickbacks amounting to Rs 500 crore, causing a loss of Rs 5,000 crore to the exchequer,” he alleged.
If the mining leases were auctioned as per MMDR Act, the government would have earned substantial revenue through upfront payments, royalties and associated taxes, he said. The estimated premium per mining lease would have been Rs 500 crore and for eight mines, it would have worked out to Rs 4,000 crore, he added.
“The illegal extension of mining leases, instead of following the auctioning process, resulted in a total financial loss of Rs 6,420 crore to the government. The act of bypassing auctions not only deprived the exchequer of rightful revenue but also encouraged corruption and lack of accountability in the mining sector,” he stated in the petition.
