Exclusive: Why the Karnataka Lokayukta quit

People have been asking me the reason I decided to quit prematurely, and what it was about this particular case that led to the decision.

It’s a chain of events, and each link is very important. In February, we received a complaint from a lawyer from Kerala, saying a huge convoy of vehicles was landing near Ankola, where Bilikere port is located, and was parked there overnight, till the port gates opened.

He said they block the road on either side, cook their food, drink and indulge in all sorts of activities there, some very embarrassing, and causing great discomfort to the people living in and around that area. Therefore, he wanted us to take action against this illegal transportation by the lorries, which were carrying iron ore.

So, sometime towards the end of February, I sent a team to do a ‘recce’, or a reconnaissance. They reported that this was true, and that it’s quite impossible to travel there at that time of the day. To cross fifteen kilometres, it would take one to one and a half hours, so the team said we should proceed and do something about it.

In the first week of May, I sent some officers – ten to twelve of them – and we don’t have many officers available for such jobs. We sent them there at night. Dr. Yuvi Singh, who’s a very good officer and has been working with me ever since I started this mining investigation, headed the team.

They stopped ninety-nine lorries that night. Some escaped, and they found that almost all the lorries did not carry any documents, and the few that did, had bogus, forged ones not issued by competent authorities.

Those were seized. Then, some computers, from various points like way bridges and stockyards were also seized. From this, we received information that a huge quantity of iron ore had already been taken away before my officers reached that point, and that it may be in Bilikere and Karwar ports.

Dr. Singh instructed the Deputy Conservator of Forests for Karwar, Mr. R Gokul, to go there and inspect and find out if such illegally transported iron ore is there, and if it is not supported by genuine documentation, to report to him.

At the first instance itself, it was reported that there were 5 lakh tonnes in Bilikere port, and about 50,000 tonnes in Karwar. Mr. Gokul was instructed to immediately file a criminal complaint to the Magistrate of Ankola and to seek permission to seize the iron ore.

Such permission was obtained, and when the seizure took place at Ankola, it was found there were 8.5 lakh metric tonnes. The report on this was signed by witnesses, who were the local port officials, and it was submitted to the court. The court gave permission to retain it in the custody of the officer concerned.

Thereafter, nearly eleven writ petitions were filed in the High Court of Karnataka, claiming ownership of the property and saying it was genuine transport. They said it should be allowed to be exported on the grounds that the monsoon is starting, thereafter export is not possible, they had forward contracts which had time limits, and if they did not deliver on time, they would be sued for damages.

I had written to the Advocate General, saying that in many of the cases where we have not been made parties, we find that the cases are not defended properly - whatever may be the reason, I don’t want to venture into a guess now. The Advocate General was good enough to act immediately. He appointed a Special Prosecutor, who fought tooth and nail, and in spite of various people appealing, the court gave no orders. There were changes of benches, and even so, they didn’t allow export.

Then, the advocate appearing for the government made an application to include the Lokayukta as a party, on the grounds that the whole issue started with the office of the Lokayukta. At that stage, the other party opposed the application tooth and nail, but the Court said either you file a counter, or you allow the application.

At that point of time, they took a long adjournment of two weeks. All their urgency disappeared. We, of course, never suspected what their next move would be. We’ve much wiser today than we were then.

A week thereafter, the vernacular newspaper in Karwar published a news item that of the seized material, about 5 lakh tonnes has been already exported illegally, clandestinely.

So a survey was made, and it was found that out of 8.5 lakh tonne material, 5 lakh metric tonnes had been illegally transported - obviously by the people who claim ownership of that. It could never have gone without collusion of the port authorities. There was no documentation whatever to support the genuineness of the material or the ownership.

Then, we instructed the Deputy Commissioner to file a criminal petition. Gokul could have done this in the name of the Lokayukta, but he thought being a criminal case, he should go before the police and file a complaint.

The police refused to take the complaint. So, the SP was contacted and they dilly-dallied. Then they contacted us. The AGDP, my police chief, spoke to him, and ultimately, the DGP took immediate action, and under his instruction, the complaint was taken.

But when the FIR was filed in court, there was a line included there, stating that this is a huge crime that will have to be detected by a special police agency. So they suggested CID take over, and the magistrate thought that was the appropriate thing to do - he didn’t know much about the Lokayukta’s investigation - and he directed the CID to investigate. So, of course, they took it and didn’t do much about it at that point of time.

We filed an application in the court because we had all the proof in place. It was then, when some facts could not be controverted, that the ports minister went to the military port. Incidentally, this is not supposed to happen when a case is subjudice, but he went anyway.

According to him, he was enquiring into the loss of material. He found that 6 lakh metric tonnes had gone missing and not five. One metric tonne is worth about fifty thousand rupees. So five lakh metric tonnes means Rs. 250 crore is gone. He said one more lakh metric tonne was gone.

Fair enough, he was one up on us.

But here’s what he did next. He called this officer, Gokul, to have a chat with him or question him, as the case may be. Based on that, he wrote a letter to the Chief secretary, of which I believe a copy was also sent to the Chief Minister.

The exact wording of the letter – which was written in Kannada – translates into “when I came to know there was theft of iron ore, I visited the port, and I found 6 lakh metric tonne was missing. Therefore I wanted to investigate and I called Gokul. But he did not bother to turn up in spite of repeated telephone calls. Therefore, I suspect Gokul himself is involved in this illegal transportation. Based on that, he should be immediately kept under suspension.”

That was on June 21. I had already made up my mind earlier, to quit in September. However, this was the last straw on my back at least (if not the camel’s) and it triggered my decision to quit immediately.

If I had not quit, and if Gokul was kept in suspension for one day or even one hour, they could have appointed another person to look into it, and then God knows what could have happened with the investigation.

At that point of time, it was a scam of Rs. 250 crore.

But, before the minister went there, Gokul had received certain documents from the department of the government concerned and he reported to us that it was not just 5 lakhs. Five lakh tonnes was missing on that day, but between October 2009 and March this year, it was 35 lakh tonnes. That works out to Rs. 1600 plus crore of rupees.  

I don’t think a scam of this magnitude has been seen before in this state or any other state. The value of the Bofors was only Rs. 69 crore. There was the coffin scam of Kargil, but I’ve never heard of one that has crossed the iron ore scam in terms of magnitude.

And no one can controvert this, because the Honourable Chief Minister has stated, on the floor of the House, that yes, between October and March, 35 lakh metric tonnes has gone missing. He undervalued the cost, but even so, it crosses Rs. 1000 crore.

He also said Gokul has done a wonderful job, and that he has been very brave to fight the mafia of illegal mining, and that he should be rewarded.

Please compare the two statements – of the minister who wanted him to be kept under suspension, and the Chief Minister, who wanted him to be rewarded.

But by that time, I had resigned. This is the trigger point. My understanding is that if I had not made the call for his suspension the flash point for my resignation, they might not have reacted so quickly.

And there is a need to investigate this.  

On Friday, the Honourable Chief Minister told the House that between 2003 and 2010, the state has lost about 3.64 crore metric tonnes of iron ore. Imagine the quantum, and if you divide this up by the year, you can estimate how much has gone missing in the period of this government, which is two years, Kumaraswamy’s government, which is two years and Krishna’s government before that. This was the period when a boom began with regard to export.

Remember, we’re just talking about one port, Bilikere. We have several other ports in this state.

On the East Coast, we have information that ports like Krishnapattinam, Kakinada and Chennai are also being used for illegal export.

Because the High Court has granted a stay on exports from two ports in Karnataka, the trade has shifted to the East Coast, where it is being smuggled through Bellary or even some place in Andhra Pradesh.

I think the export scam requires a much wider investigation, or Karnataka could lose its entire stock of iron ore in another ten years.

(As told to Nandini Krishnan)

Exclusive interview with Justice Hegde:
Part I: 'Resignation is not a tamasha!'
Part II: 'Don't give me a vote, give me a slap!'
Mining row: Karnataka Assembly adjourned again