PANAJI
Goa Foundation director Dr Claude Alvares has on Friday submitted a complaint before Goa Lokayukta seeking an investigation into the circumstances that led to the en masse second renewal of 88 mining leases in the State from November 1, 2014 to January 12, 2015.
Former Chief Minister and Mines Minister Laxmikant Parsekar, Mines Secretary Pavan Kumar Sen and Director of Mines Prasanna Acharya have been named as respondents in the complaint. Goa Foundation also declared that it has refrained from including Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar as a respondent owing to his ill health.
“The illegal second renewals were done in order to benefit these private persons and companies. The Supreme Court of India quashed and set aside the renewal of all 88 leases by its judgement dated February 7, 2018,” the complaint states.
Briefing the media after submission of his complaint at the office of Lokayukta in Ribandar, Alvares stated, “No leases survive in Goa after Supreme Court’s judgement in 2007. No renewal or extension requests could have been entertained. 88 leases were suspended as there was corruption and illegality involved in extending them till 2020. Goa Government has willfully given away a sum of Rs 1.44 lakh crore through these three officers.”
Explaining how he arrived at the sum total of Rs 1.44 lakh crore, Alvares said that Rs 65,000 crore is the recovery amount for five years of illegal mining from 2007 till 2012 by order of SC. “These officers tried to regularise that period by renewing the leases from 2007 despite the leases being granted in 2015,” he said. In addition to this, Alvares pointed out that the 88 leases were worth a total value of ore Rs 79,000 crore.
“This is the largest mining scam this country has seen. Hence, we are attacking the public officials involved in granting the leases though we have recovered the amount of Rs 79,000 crore through our second petition,” he said.
Along with its complaint, Goa Foundation has attached 300 pages of documentation which includes research data as well as court orders on the subject pertaining to the time period from November 5, 2014 till 12 January, 2015. Alvares informed that a separate legal notice has been served to mines secretary Daulat Hawaldar about the recovery of Rs 65,000 crore.
Raising further questions on the process of renewal of the 88 leases in question, Alvares demanded to know how a mines director could sign on 31 mining leases on the same day.
Meanwhile, commenting on the state government’s review petition to the SC order, Alvares said, “It is a lost case. The BJP government’s review petition is not backed by reality. What will it fetch them? The judgement will not be suspended nor will the leases be restored.”
