PANJIM: Goa Lokayukta Justice (retired) P K Misra on Wednesday issued notices to former Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar and two others in the illegal second renewals granted to 88 iron ore mining leases in the State, which has been quashed and set aside by the Supreme Court.
Notices have been issued to Parsekar, former Mines Secretary Pawan Kumar Sain and Mines Director Prasanna Acharya under Section 12 (2) of the Goa Lokayukta Act, seeking their reply in the connection with the complaint filed by NGO Goa Foundation, which is also the petitioner before Supreme Court. The notices are returnable by May 7.
“The Lokayukta office today issued notices to Parsekar, Sain and Acharya under Goa Lokayukta Act. This is part of the preliminary inquiry,” the Lokayukta office confirmed.
The Lokayukta has initiated the preliminary inquiry into the complaint filed by Goa Foundation (GF) against the trio, demanding investigation into the illegal second renewal of 88 leases claiming that the renewal led to loss of Rs 1,44,000 crore to the State exchequer.
GF has said that the three were involved in granting mining leases in violation of the Supreme Court judgment and provisions of Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act (MMDR). The foundation has pleaded before the Lokayukta to investigate the circumstances that led to the mass second renewals of 88 mining leases.
“The total loss to the people of the State is conservatively estimated to be Rs 65,058 crore (recovery from illegal mining between 2007-12), plus Rs 79,836 crore (value of ore lying at the 88 leases) comes to Rs 1,44,000 crore. If interest is added, the amount exceeds Rs 2,00,000 crore,” the complaint had stated.
