Illegal mining: SC directs CBI probe against Karnataka chief minister Yeddyurappa

NEW DELHI: In a setback to former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, the Supreme Court on Friday directed a CBI probe against him for allegedly granting undue favours to firms involved in illegal mining in lieu of donations to a charitable trust run by his kin.

A Special Forest bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia directed the probe agency to carry out the probe uninfluenced by the stature of the person and political clout and corporates involved in the case and file its report by August 3.

The bench, also comprising justices Aftab Alam and Swatanter Kumar, stayed all pending proceedings before all judicial forums in connection with the case.

The apex court accepted the April 20 report of the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) which had pointed out several allegations against Yeddyurappa and corporate entities involving Jindals and Adanis and had recomended a CBI probe. The court also asked the Andhra Pradesh government to cooperate with the CBI in the investigation.

The April 20 report prepared by the CEC in pursuance of the apex court's February 10 order, said there was a scope for expanding the CBI probe against the BJP leader and annexed the documents to support its findings.

The CEC had recommended CBI probe considering the "massive illegalities and illegal mining" found in Karnataka and allegations against the Jindal Group as being "recipient of large quantities of illegally mined material and undue favour being shown to them".