Koda showed undue haste in issuing licences’

PATNA: Some of the favourite bureaucrats of former chief minister of Jharkhand Madhu Koda are already under scanner of I-T officials following his involvement in the multicrore money laundering scam. That the mining licences were issued in undue haste during Mr Koda's tenure has raised strong suspicion that the then mines secretary Jaishankar Tiwari must have faced tremendous pressure to abide by his (Koda) diktat.

"I will be negating if I say there was no pressure on me. I had the feeling that there was pressure from Madhu Koda to speed up things . It is the department which recommends mining lease licences and there was some pressure on me in such matters . If you are working in the government , there are some constraints which you have to face " he told ET.

At the same time, he said, licences of not more than 7 iron mine ores were allotted during his tenure. Mr Tiwari had joined as mines secretary in January, 2007 and remained there till he retired in early 2008.

Talking of pressure he faced, Mr Tiwari conceded that he was at times asked by the powers that be to award the mining licenses to particular players. "At times, I was asked to settle the matter the same day" Mr Tiwari said.

It is now being said that you recommended mining lease licences of 48 mines in a single day. What do you have to say ?

"Nothing could be more farcical than this. There are altogether not even 48 iron ores in Jharkhand .Yes there were 50 applicants who were vying of a one particular mine. I called them for hearing and the process lasted a day.

How long will it take to complete the hearing formalities?

But it is now coming out that the government sent the recommendations to the centre the same day. The mining lease recommendations were sent to the Centre much later. For every mine there are about 100 applicants. Again in case of that mine about so much hue and cry is being raised , I had to wait for the other applicants who had not turn up for the hearing," Mr Tiwari explained. Again, he said, it was wrong to say he had rushed from Punjab "where he had gone as poll observer" to clear the mining licence formalities on the same day.

But what about Binod Sinha, one of the key associates of Koda ? Did he show any interest in the affairs of the mining department?

"In the beginning , he was very active. He evinced deep interest in the affairs of the department," quipped the former mines secretary who said he was ready to cooperate with the investigating agencies, if he was approached .
"Yes I worked under Babulal Marandi, Arjun Munda but I must admit there was some kind of undue haste which I could see during the tenure of Madhu Koda," Mr Tiwari said.

According to sources in the income tax department, Mr Koda and his associates used the mines department for acquiring the ill-gotten money which they sent abroad through hawala route. Not only illegal mining activity flourished during his time, but Mr Koda also made sure that the mining lease rights were awarded to those players who in return offered huge sum of money to him and his cohorts.