BHUBANESWAR: Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Alka Panda today said that there was nothing objectionable in the decision taken by the State Government for granting prospecting licence of Khandadhar iron ore mines to the South Korean major Posco on April 19.
‘‘We have gone through the relevant file, there is no case in it,’’ the CEO told a news conference here today.
The CEO had called for the file from the State Government after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) petitioned the Election Commission accusing Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik of violating model code of conduct to favour Korean steel major Posco for granting mining lease.
The BJP had alleged that the Chief Minister cleared the Steel and Mines Department proposal for granting mining lease in an area of 25 sq km at Khandadhar in Sundargarh district on April 19 without obtaining the Election Commission’s approval.
The Chief Minister further directed the department to prospect the balance area of about 35 sq km to enable the Government lease out more areas in favour of Posco, if required by the company, to meet the agreement in the MoU which committed 600 million tonnes of iron ore to the steel project, the BJP said.
The State Government had dared the BJP saying it is open to any scrutiny on the alleged violation of election code of conduct against the Chief Minister.
Clarifying that no fresh decision was taken in favour of Posco on April 19 as alleged by the BJP, the Steel and Mines Department said the Government recommendation to the Centre for grant of prospecting licence to Posco was sent on January 9, well before the announcement of the general election and operation of the model code of conduct.