New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday ordered an environmental probe into alleged illegal mining in Karnataka, which had been the focus of a long standing political tussle between governor H R Bhardwaj and the B S Yeddyurappa government.
A special Bench comprising Chief Justice S H Kapadia and Justices Aftab Alam and K S Radhakrishnan asked the court-appointed Central Empowered Committee to inquire into the allegations of illegal mining in Karnataka and submit its report within six weeks.
This direction came after counsel Prashant Bhushan, appearing for an NGO “Samaj Parivartan Samuday”, alleged that Karnataka Lokayukta and former judge of the Supreme Court Justice N Santosh Hegde had given a stinging report on the thriving mining mafia operating in the `no-go’ green zones.
Bhardwaj had repeatedly accused the BJP-ruled state of turning a blind eye to his requests to take action against the politically powerful Reddy brothers indulging in illegal mining in forest areas.
Just over a month ago, the CEC had given a report to the court on the illegal mining activity in Bellary reserve forest areas in Andhra Pradesh carried out by mine lease holders, including the Reddys. The CEC’s Andhra Pradesh report said that the Reddys continued with their mining activity on permission from the earlier YSR Reddy government and with approval from the environment ministry in UPA-I in Bellary reserve forest. The CEC had recommended cancellation of all three mining leases given to Reddy-owned Obulapuram Mining Corporation (OMC), recovery of market value of illegally mined mineral since 2004 and demarcation of boundaries using satellite imagery.
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