Times Of India reported that Supreme Court on Thursday expressed shock at the "daredevilry" of four firms in surreptitiously exporting 7.5 lakh tonnes of iron ore illegally mined in Karnataka despite it being seized by authorities at Belekeri port in Goa and sought the presence of CBI on September 7 to discuss action to be taken on the environmental panel's report.
A bench of Justices Aftab Alam, KS Radhakrishnan and Swatanter Kumar was informed about export of the seized iron ore by four firms Adani Enterprises Ltd, Shree Mallikarjun Shipping Pvt Ltd, Salgaoncar Mining and Rajmahal Silks by amicus curiae Shyam Divan, who read out startling details from the report of the Central Empowered Committee.
The CEC quoted from the CID investigation report, which said, "As on March 20th 2010, over 906,000 tonnes of iron ore was stacked in Belekeri port by the four port service providers (as against 805,000 tonnes compiled by the port conservator and reported to the forest department) which was seized. Out of this, over 757,000 tonnes of iron ore was allowed to be exported to various foreign companies."
The CEC report also pointed out that 35 lakh tonnes of illegally extracted iron ore from Bellary was exported. This convinced the bench to take a serious look at the CEC's recommendations for detailed investigation into illegal mining that was rampant in Bellary, Hospet and Chitradurg districts and its surreptitious export through ports outside the state.
The CEC in its April 27, 2012 report to the forest bench of Supreme Court had presented the loot of iron ore in Bellary district where 35 lakh tonnes of illegally extracted ore "disappeared" from Belekeri port in south Goa, approximately 400 km from Bellary.
Shocked by the modus operandi of mine operators, the bench said, "What kind of daredevilry is this. The magistrate's seizure note has been served on them and still the ore has disappeared. Can there be a more blatant flouting of law of the land than this?"
Divan said the court direct the matter for investigation to CBI since it involved a detailed investigation into the role of mine operators, port officials and several other persons. But the bench said that "If we direct CBI enquiry you know how many years it takes for the trial to complete as there are hundreds of witnesses to be produced and several documents to be looked into."
Instead, the court gave the CEC a week's time to file a supplementary report detailing the action that was needed to be taken. "If it is possible to split the case in which we can have some immediate results, we can consider," the bench said. It posted further hearing on September 7 and directed a responsible officer of the CBI along with a law officer of the Union government to be present in court on that day.
Source - Times Of India
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