"Substantive" evidence against CM: Karnataka Lokayukta

Bangalore, Jul 21 (PTI) In a strong indictment of
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, state Lokayukta
Justice Santosh N Hegde on Thursday said he has given
"substantive" and "voluminous" evidence against him in the
illegal mining scam in the southern Indian state, which has
cost the state exchequer Rs 1800 crore in a period of 14
months.
Terming the illegal mining scam as a "huge racket",
Hegde said, "In the time period of 14 months, it is more than
Rs 1800 crore.The time period is between March 2009 to May
2010. It is loss to the state exchequer".
Report has given substantive evidence whether it's the
Chief Minister, Ministers and miners. "It's a voluminous
evidence", he said.
"As a matter of fact, the Chief Minister is
responsible for what's happening in (mineral rich district of)
Bellary because the Minister in Charge (of the district G
Janardhana Reddy) is owner of a mining company (Obalapuram
Mining) and a mafia-like situation is created with every
official being involved. They have created a new system
altogether by which they could literally bleed other mining
companies", Hegde told PTI
Hegde, a former Supreme Court judge, said the leak of
the report would not have any impact as it would not question
the validity of the report, which he was expected to submit to
the Government by Monday.
Attacking the BJP over the illegal mining issue,
Congress today demanded the resignation of Yeddyurappa.
"Yeddyurappa must immediately resign from his post,"
Congress Spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed said while questioning the
"silence" of the BJP leadership over the "illegal mining" in
Karnataka and alleged that was happening with their consent.
The BJP, for its part, said it was too early to react
to the report.
BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said the party will
wait for the report on illegal mining in the state to be made
public before coming out with any reaction and asked the
Congress to first take action against those named in the
Shunglu Committee and Delhi Lokayukta report.
"The Shunglu Committee had indicted the Sheila Dikshit
Government in the Commonwealth Games and the Delhi Lokayukta
had recommended to the President that action should be taken
against her minister Rajkumar Chauhan in the Tivoli Garden
case. Nothing has been done in these two cases. Congress
should first respond to this," he said.