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This is an archive article published on September 17, 2013
Illegal mining case: Bail for retd IAS officer Banu
Retired IAS officer Shamim Banu (62),named in a CBI chargesheet in an illegal iron ore mining case and sent to judicial custody by a special court on September 7,was granted bail Monday considering her age and gender
Written by Express News Service
Bangalore | September 17, 2013 01:30 AM IST
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Retired IAS officer Shamim Banu (62),named in a CBI chargesheet in an illegal iron ore mining case and sent to judicial custody by a special court on September 7,was granted bail Monday considering her age and gender.
Her judicial custody had created a controversy last week. While the IAS Officers Association supported Banu,the courts questioned the expression of solidarity when a bail plea was pending in the matter.
We have not adopted a resolution. We have only expressed solidarity with our former colleague. We have full faith the judiciary will provide justice. She had a spotless career and we are sure she will come out clean, Additional Chief Secretary Kaushik Mukherjee,who is secretary of the IAS Officers Association in Karnataka,had said after Banus arrest.
The Karnataka High Court questioned the rationale behind the public display of solidarity.
Is it justified for the association to express solidarity with an accused officer when the criminal case and the accused officers bail application are pending before court? a judge said.
The former additional chief secretary is one of two senior Karnataka IAS officers arrested since the CBI began probe into illegal mining by Bellary company Deccan Mining Syndicate (DMS) on a Supreme Court directive issued in October 2011.
Banu,as a secretary in the department of commerce and industries,allegedly allowed renewal of a mining lease to DMS in 1999 despite a report that the company encroached on mining land belonging to the National Mineral Development Corporation,causing it a loss of Rs 1,232 crore between 1999 and 2010.
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Retired additional chief secretary N Vishwanathan (72) of the 1966-batch of IAS was arrested in June this year in the same case.
He is accused of enabling the encroachment by DMS as principal secretary in the department of commerce and industries.
The CBI has also arrested and chargesheeted six others in the case. They include police inspector Ramakanth Hullar,who allegedly aided DMS in transport of illegal ore; a former deputy director in the mines and geology department S P Raju and the DMS management of Rajendra Kumar Jain and Ritesh Milap Chand.
SC allows CBI to file cases without state nod<\b>
The CBI got Supreme Court (SC) go-ahead Monday to register illegal iron ore export cases without Karnataka government sanction.
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We make it clear that the restriction imposed by Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act will not apply to the investigation directed by this court, a green Bench led by Justice A K Patnaik said.
It also permitted the CBI to register criminal cases against those who exported more than 50,000 metric tonnes of iron ore. The exporters have been subjected to a preliminary enquiry (PE) as per a September 5,2012,report and recommendation of the SC-appointed central empowered committee.
The Bench asked the agency to refer cases related to those who exported less than 50,000 tonnes to the Karnataka government for further action.
SC said both the CBI and the Karnataka government would file compliance reports within four months.
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The order came on an application by the CBI seeking clarification and directions on future course of action after conclusion of the PE.
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