Lokayukta, Hegde submits report to govt; Yeddyurappa fate uncertain

Lokayukta, Hegde submits report to govt; Yeddyurappa fate uncertain

Mtoday/ PTI

Bangalore, July 27:  Karnataka Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde’s mammoth report on illegal mining - over 10,000 pages in two steel trunks - has been formally presented to the state chief secretary. The report indicts Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa and politicians from many other parties, accusing them of colluding to allow illegal mining and benefitting from it, often through kickbacks.

 

The report will decide the fate of Yeddyurappa, his four ministers, including the two Reddy brothers, former chief minister H.D. Kumarasway and Congress Rajya Sabha member and mining baron Anil Lad as well as over 500 officials.

 

"We have explained the irregularities in mining. Illegal mining is rampant in Bellary, Chitradurga and Tumkur. We have probed all aspects of illegal mining. We had seized a huge quantity of iron ore at a port near Karwar in 2010, (but) it went missing," said Justice Hegde.

Justice Hegde also accused the state government of not taking any action to stop illegal mining.

"We have pointed out illegal mining can be controlled but unfortunately no action has been taken. We had to examine over 4 lakh records and 50 lakh entries to produce this report which comes to 25,288 pages. The illegalities done have been described in 31 chapters. We have come to the conclusion that the loss caused is Rs 16,085 crore from 2006 to 2010," he said.

The Yeddyurappa family has also been accused of taking bribes from mining companies. Justice Hegde said that some companies paid money to Yeddyurappa’s family by cheque.

""We have found that an mining company had donated Rs 10 crore to a trust of the family member of the chief minister. This trust had nothing to do with the donating company. I find it extremely difficult that people have to borrow money and donate. We have found discrepancies in the land deals by the mining company, I have made recommendation to the governor to take steps against the chief minister," he added.

The Chief Minister’s family has sold a land for Rs 20 crore to a mining company. This company had some mining related work with the government," he said.

Justice Hegde added that since only the Governor can take action against the Chief Minister so a copy of the report has been sent to him.

Thanking the all the officers involved in investigating and preparing the report, Hegde said that many of these officers were very young and also expressed his apprehension that "there is every possibility of professional and physical harassment to the investigative officers".

Justice Hegde also recommended the prosecution of Yeddyurappa under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The Reddy brothers of Bellary are likely to be asked to pay up for loss to exchequer.

Former Karnataka chief minister and JD-S leader HD Kumaraswamy has been named in the report for granting leases illegally to mining company.

There is trouble for the Congress as well with its Rajya Sabha MP and mining magnate Anil Lad along with his wife have also being named in the report.

On the line is Mr Yeddyurappa’s job - the Opposition has been clamouring for his ouster and many in his own party, the BJP, see wisdom in his being asked to step down. Top BJP leaders will meet in Delhi after the report is submitted and sources said the BJP will ask Mr Yeddyurappa to step down if the indictment in the report is strong. The party, the sources said, will sacrifice a tainted Chief Minister to be able to continue targeting the UPA on corruption at the Centre, something the pro-Yeddyurappa side is coming to terms with.

Mr Yeddyurappa is expected to head to Delhi with the report, once it is presented, for discussions with the party.

 

 

Yeddyurappa says won’t quit

The CM has remained defiant so far. He was seen this morning distributing the famous Tirupati ladoos to reporters waiting for a word with him. The Chief Minister of Karnataka spent the night at the Tirumala temple.  "I woke up in a very good mood," he said, explaining that he enjoyed his early morning darshan at the Tirumala temple.  "I prayed for so many things," he said, "I sat in front of God."  He said he has no worries about losing his job because "Lord Balaji and all other gods are with me.  I am doing so much good work," he added.

Justice Santosh Hegde, who serves as the Lokayukta or ombudsman of Karnataka, said this morning:  "I have no hope that the report will be implemented by the government. But I hope the Supreme Court takes cognizance as they are already monitoring illegal mining," Mr Hegde said speaking to reporters in Bangalore.

The Lokayukta has already confirmed that his report names Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa and four state ministers, among others. The embattled Chief Minister has, however, denied that he has been named in the report. He insists that there’s "no evidence against me".
 
Refusing to quit, Mr Yeddyurappa told reporters in Bangalore yesterday, "There are many corrupt ministers in Delhi. The Prime Minister is a noble man but his circle is corrupt. So let him resign first and then let them talk about us." He added that he was confident of continuing as the Chief Minister for the next two years.

The Opposition has attacked Mr Yeddyurappa unsparingly and very vocally over the Hegde report, demanding that he be sacked immediately for being accused of nepotism and corruption. Even the BJP is split on this - there is a divide over whether he should continue as CM. BJP vice-president Shanta Kumar has openly said Mr Yeddyurappa must step down.

The BJP dilemma

Mr Yeddyurappa, the first BJP Chief Minister in a southern state, has survived all attacks against him in the last three years. But sources say a faction in the party now claims that their big plans of taking on the UPA government on the issue of corruption in the forthcoming session of Parliament would certainly be dented if Mr Yeddyurappa stays as Chief Minister. On the other hand, those favouring Mr Yeddyurappa say since the 68-year-old Chief Minister is the most prominent Lingayat leader of the BJP in Karnataka, the party should be wary of antagonising the community by removing him.

However, in signs of eroding support, the Lingayat mutts in Karnataka have slammed Mr Yeddyurappa saying he should be "above all suspicion." Speaking to NDTV, Sri Vishweshavani, the Chief Pontiff of Pejawar Mutt, said, "I am very upset that these allegations have come up against the CM. He should have been like Caesar’s wife. Above all suspicion. At least we believed so."

The BJP now has to choose. Whether or not to sacrifice Mr Yeddyurappa, who has also delivered impressive gains for the BJP in the Lok Sabha and local elections, to be able to continue taking the high moral ground on corruption while attacking the Congress-led UPA at the Centre.

On Monday, BJP president Nitin Gadkari had said that the party would consider Mr Yeddyurappa’s future after Mr Hegde’s report was formally presented to the government.