Yeddyurappa case: SC pulls up Karnataka CID for shoddy probe

The Supreme Court on Friday reserved till next week its order on the plea that a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry should be conducted into activities of former Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, who is accused of nepotism, illegal land acquisition and favouring certain iron ore mining companies.

At the same time, the three-judge forest bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia directed the Karnataka government to preserve all records relied upon by the court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) to recommend a CBI probe against several companies including Adani Group for alleged illegal export of iron ore, following a plea made by senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for CEC, to this effect.

The court said it would take up the CEC report on 13 July after the summer vacation.

The apex court pulled up the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for shoddy investigation into the potential illegal export of iron ore seized from Belekeri port at Karwar.

The CEC had said in its report submitted on 27 April, ''Hardly any investigation has been carried out to date to detect the extent of illegal iron ore out of the seized iron ore and to identify the suppliers, transporters, exporters and port service providers involved in it. Instead the entire investigation has been carried out as if the only illegality was with respect to the export of the seized iron ore.''

According to the CEC report, the CID said that out of around 9.06 lakh tonnes of iron ore seized at Belekeri port, 7.57 lakh tonnes was illegally exported by four companies - Adani Enterprises Ltd, Shree Mallikarjun Shipping Pvt Ltd, Salgaoncar Mining Industries Pvt Ltd and Rajmahal Silks.