Actions taken according to court of law: Home Minister on Kumaraswamy’s mining case remark

BENGALURU: After Janata Dal (Secular) leader and Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy alleged that the Congress government wanted to malign him in an alleged mining land allotment case, Home Minister G Parameshwara on Thursday said that there will be investigations, and actions will be taken according to the court of law.

“Government has other governmental business, not these kind of things. But if there is anything against the law that has happened, the respective agencies will look after it. There will be investigations, and actions will be taken according to the court of law”, Parameshwara said.

#WATCH | On Union Minister and JD(S) MP H.D. Kumaraswamy’s statement, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara says, “Government has other governmental business, not these kind of things. But if there is anything against the law that has happened the respective agencies will look… pic.twitter.com/UoAZUfbO8u

— ANI (@ANI) August 22, 2024

Earlier, while responding to the Karnataka Lokayukta SIT letter seeking sanction for filing a chargesheet against Kumaraswamy in alleged mining land allotment, the JDS leader said that he had no role in the case and the Congress government wanted to malign him.

Kumaraswamy said, “From 2011, the allegations are going that one mining allotment was issued in my tenure. The allegation is that when I was the Chief Minister in the year 2007, I favoured Sai Venkateshwara. There are allegations that I have collected Rs 150 crore from mining owners. So I requested Lokayukta to start an inquiry about the same. They started the enquiry in 2011 and several findings have come out. That enquiry report was submitted by the Lokayukta to the Government in 2010 or 2011. There is no loss to the exchequer. Till now, no mining area has been allocated to anyone.”

“In my case, the Supreme Court gave the direction on the interference of the present Congress government in the year 2014- 15 headed by Siddaramaiah. They appealed in the court and asked for enquiry. The court permitted enquiry. The court ordered to complete the enquiry within three months and come up with the report. SC also directed not to go to any other court and SC will give the ultimate decision”, he added.

He further said that now it’s 2024, and the SIT hasn’t completed the investigation yet. “The SIT went to the Supreme Court 2-3 times, but only filed the status report. Now after the Congress came to power in 2023, they went to the governor in November requesting sanction to file chargesheet against me. The then governor, after a thorough study, said that there was some controversy regarding the signature on the file, so directed to once again go through the case and come again”, he said.

“The SIT of the Karnataka Lokayukta have even taken my statement, now they have filed the chargesheet. Let’s see what happens. I have no role in the case. This government wants to malign me. But this is a dead case”, he added. (ANI)