Krishna moves SC for quashing illegal mining case
24 Jan 2012
External affairs minister S M Krishna today moved the Supreme Court seeking to quash proceeding in a private complaint and an inquiry by Lokayukta police against him over alleged illegal mining during his tenure as Karnataka chief minister between 1999 and 2004.
Krishna in his petition has challenged the 20 January decision of the Karnataka High Court to decline his plea for quashing the private complaint and proceedings ordered by the Lokayukta Special Court against him.
The Lokayukta is probing a Krishna cabinet decision to dereserve a fragile forest area for mining.
The petition, filed through advocate Vijay Lakshmi Menon, contended that the cabinet decision was a collective one taken by 34 ministers and an individual cannot be held responsible for it.
The petition also claims that since it was a policy decision of the government, it cannot be challenged in a court of law.
The high court had ordered continuation of investigation into offences relating to dereservation of forest area in mineral-rich fragile zones.