May hand over Goa illegal mining case to CBI: Manohar Parrikar

PANAJI: Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said on Monday that the state government might hand over a Rs 35,000-crore illegal mining scam case to the Central Bureau of Investigation ( CBI).

However, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition government would take a formal decision only after the state police, now investigating the scam, submit their report, he said.

"The government has not taken a decision. There are many issues which are very complex in the mining (scam case). So, we are going to do it. Let the police give the report," Parrikar told the media here, when asked if his government was considering handing over the case to the CBI.

The scam which occurred during the tenure of former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat, was brought to light by a judicial commission led by Justice M.B. Shah in 2011.

A subsequent Parrikar-led administration ordered a probe by a Special Investigation Team of the Goa Police in 2013.

The Opposition has, however, been critical over the delay in the SIT probe report.

Top bureaucrats, politicians and nearly all major mining companies in Goa were indicted.