10/05/2012 - Myclipp

The Economic Times/ - Politics/Nation, Sáb, 12 de Maio de 2012
CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Supreme Court)
SC orders probe into BS Yeddyurappa's
links to illegal mining; JSW Steel's
donations under scanner
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has directed the
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe former
Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa's links to
illegal mining in the state, almost certainly dashing his
hopes of a return to power in the near future. Also
under investigation will be JSW Steel, India's
third-largest steelmaker, which has been accused of
making donations to entities controlled by
Yeddyurappa's kin in return for access to illegally
mined iron ore. In an order on Friday, a special forest
bench comprising Chief Justice SH Kapadia and
Justices Aftab Alam and Swatanter Kumar directed the
CBI to complete its investigation within three months.
The judges also expressed anguish over the rampant
illegal mining of iron ore under political patronage in
Karantaka and Andhra Pradesh. "Wherever and
whenever the State fails to perform its duties, the court
shall step in to ensure that the rule of law prevails,"
wrote Justice Kumar on behalf of the bench.
Sadananda Gowda, the man who succeeded
Yeddyurappa, declined to comment, but the opposition
Congress said the government must resign. The
former chief minister, who spoke to reporters at
Nanjangud, near Mysore, insisted he was innocent. "I
will come out clean. I am confident of getting justice
after the CBI probe," he said. The recommendation for
an investigation was made by the Central Empowered
Committee (CEC), the SC-appointed panel which has
been overseeing the clampdown on illegal mining. The
deals of denotification of government land bought by
Yeddyurappa's relatives and sold to a JSW-linked
company South West Mining is under scanner.
Another involves the donation of 10 crore to a trust
controlled by the family of the former chief minister.
Payments of 6 crore by a mine owner to two firms
controlled by close kin of Yeddyurappa will also come
under CBI scrutiny. JSW Steel insists that it was a
bona fide purchaser of iron ore from the open market,
and that it was not obliged to check the origin of the
ore. South West Mining, too, maintains it is innocent.
For chief minister Gowda, who has complained to the
party's leadership in New Delhi that the Yeddyurappa
faction has been defying him, the Supreme Court's
order will be a relief. It could force Yeddyurappa's
supporters to lie low and give Gowda the room that he
needs to carry out a cabinet expansion. The Bharatiya
Janata Party, which formed its first government in
south India in Karnataka, has been embarrassed by a
series of corruption scandals. Besides leaving
Karnataka in a state of almost permanent political
dysfunction, they have also hampered the BJP's
attempts to corner the United Progressive Alliance
government on the issue of corruption. G Janaradhana
Reddy, a former tourism minister and a mining baron
from iron-ore rich Bellary, is in jail while being
investigated for his involvement in illegal mining. Katta
Subramanya Naidu and Krishnaiah Setty, who were
both ministers, have been incarcerated in connection
with land scams. The allegations against
Yeddyurappa's kin were made by Samaja Parivartana
Samudaya, which has been waging a court battle
against illegal mining in the state.
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