The
one-man commission of U Sagayam that probed the Madurai granite scam has
computed the loss to the state exchequer as a little more than Rs
65,000 crore The
loss figure includes revenue loss to Tamil Nadu Minerals Ltd (Tamin) and
losses due to commercial tax evasion. The report is said to accuse the
state-run Tamin of complicity in the perpetration of the scam while
charging that a political-bureaucratic nexus facilitated the large-scale
plundering of natural resources. Sagayam
had on Monday submitted copies of the voluminous 600-page report along
with supporting documents that run into hundreds of pages to the Madras
high court which had ordered him to probe the mining activities in
Madurai district. The court direction was based on a petition filed by K
R (Traffic) Ramasamy in September last year.
The report says that a penalty of 44,283.12 crore could be imposed on the violators.
The Sagayam report indicts Tamin, saying it could have quarried and marketed the granite on its own instead of leasing out its quarries to private parties. The loss to the government exchequer caused by Tamin due to illegal mining activities is to the tune of Rs 5,507.53 crore.
This mammoth loss has been caused by operating quarries in Madurai district in a relatively short span of time, the commission has observed. An agency of the government, which otherwise should be a trendsetter by strictly adhering to the rules in vogue has miserably failed to live up to the standard, the commission has apparently stated in its report.
"Mining starts as an ordinary legal act, which gradually snowballed into major violation and transgression of the law of the land. In the entire process of grant of lease, one witnessed marked deviation at every stage. The officialdom sub-served the interest of moneyed mining lessees and as a result violations became the norm. This emboldened the mining lessees to violated in every sphere possible," the commission has observed.
The commission has described the district collector as the eye of the government and its tongue who should ensure that nothing would happen without his knowledge in the district. Yet, the report has observed that for more than a decade the illegal activities had continued without successive district collectors taking note of it.
It is unfathomable as to how the large-scale violations escaped the attention of the officials of the revenue department, who are administratively present in all villages controlled by the district collector, the commission is reported to have said. On the political patronage to mining lessees, the report has said that without strong clout among the political executives, the lessees will not venture into such illegal mining activities on such a scale.
The probe should be done under the direct supervision of the high court as many politicians and bureaucrats had connived in the illegal activity that thrived in Madurai for years, Sagayam said in a classified report filed before the Madras HC on Monday.
The report says that a penalty of 44,283.12 crore could be imposed on the violators.
The Sagayam report indicts Tamin, saying it could have quarried and marketed the granite on its own instead of leasing out its quarries to private parties. The loss to the government exchequer caused by Tamin due to illegal mining activities is to the tune of Rs 5,507.53 crore.
This mammoth loss has been caused by operating quarries in Madurai district in a relatively short span of time, the commission has observed. An agency of the government, which otherwise should be a trendsetter by strictly adhering to the rules in vogue has miserably failed to live up to the standard, the commission has apparently stated in its report.
"Mining starts as an ordinary legal act, which gradually snowballed into major violation and transgression of the law of the land. In the entire process of grant of lease, one witnessed marked deviation at every stage. The officialdom sub-served the interest of moneyed mining lessees and as a result violations became the norm. This emboldened the mining lessees to violated in every sphere possible," the commission has observed.
The commission has described the district collector as the eye of the government and its tongue who should ensure that nothing would happen without his knowledge in the district. Yet, the report has observed that for more than a decade the illegal activities had continued without successive district collectors taking note of it.
It is unfathomable as to how the large-scale violations escaped the attention of the officials of the revenue department, who are administratively present in all villages controlled by the district collector, the commission is reported to have said. On the political patronage to mining lessees, the report has said that without strong clout among the political executives, the lessees will not venture into such illegal mining activities on such a scale.
Sagayam report seeks CBI probe into mining scam
Former Madurai collector U Sagayam, who probed the 18,300 crore granite mining scam in Madurai district, has recommended a detailed investigation into the fraud by a multi-disciplinary special investigation team of CBI, comprising officials from outside Tamil Nadu.The probe should be done under the direct supervision of the high court as many politicians and bureaucrats had connived in the illegal activity that thrived in Madurai for years, Sagayam said in a classified report filed before the Madras HC on Monday.
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