'Hegde report an indictment of K'taka CM'

Home Minister P Chidambaram on Monday said that if the leaked report of the Karnataka Lokayukta on illegal mining is correct, then it is an indictment of Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa.

Chidambaram, however, declined to elaborate saying that Lokayukta Santosh Hegde has not submitted his report yet. Meanwhile, the home ministry has issued a directive under Article 355 of the Constitution to the Karnataka government saying that the governance of the state has suffered in the wake of allegations of illegal mining and "oppression" of minorities and horse trading of members of legislative assembly.

In the letter to the chief minister on May 24, the home minister had said that it appears to the Central government that as a result of the matters mentioned by the governor in his report to the Centre and as specifically stated by him in a report, "governance of the state has suffered".

The Centre's directive mentions that since the formation of the government, allegations of corruption against the chief minister and other ministers have been made from time to time. Several ministers had to resign due to their involvement in corruption and other criminal activities. "There is a code of conduct for ministers and it is the obligation of the state government, especially the chief minister, to enforce the code of conduct for ministers strictly.

"Stern action must be taken against such members of the council of ministers who are found to have violated the law or the code of conduct," the letter said.

The Centre said it was not clear what action has been taken by the state government against the ministers who had to resign due to their involvement in corruption or criminal activities. "The state government must be impartial and transparent in dealing with the said former ministers and disclose what action has been taken," it said.

The letter also referred to a number of cases relating to denotification of land in respect of which land acquisition proceedings have come to light. There are serious allegations of corruption with regard to such denotification orders.

In the light of the allegations, the state government is obliged to review the denotification orders and take action in cases involving allegations of corruption. The letter said the chief minister had admitted that illegal mining was taking place in the state. The governor's report stated that some ministers were directly associated with illegal mining.