TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Suspended Mines Director Arvind Lolienkar failed to get a respite from the Goa Bench of Bombay High Court as his bail plea in the multi-crore illegal iron ore mining case was rejected on the ground that he was actively involved in promoting illegalities.
In a 29-page order delivered on Wednesday, the Single Bench of Justice U V Bakre opined that it was difficult to believe that Lolienkar was unaware of the fake No Objection Certificate (NOC) produced by Frost International for exporting ore to China.
Earlier during the bail arguments, the prosecution submitted to the bench that Captain of Ports had informed all the offices concerned including Department of Mines & Geology that the trading company had allegedly illegally exported 1.35 lakh metric tons of ore to China on forged documents. The export had resulted in a total revenue loss of Rs 1.17 crore to the State exchequer.
“…the applicant cannot say that there is no law requiring issuance of NOC. By letter dated December 9, 2010 CoP brought to the notice of the applicant that the NOC dated November 16, 2010 issued by the Department of Mines and Geology, on checking with the office staff, was found to be a fake NOC” special Public Prosecutor A D Bhobe said.
The prosecution also alleged a close link between Lolienkar and another accused – Subrata Barik, operations manager of the Gujarat based Frost International, in the alleged illegalities.
The Court while delivering the judgment opined that since the FIR was registered on February 10, 2014, it is yet to be investigate about the fake NOC. This is one among other grounds for his bail rejection.
“It is yet to be investigation as to from where the fake NOC on November 16, 2010 originated, as to who prepared it and who issued the same. It is yet to be investigated as to why though the applicant issued show cause notice to Frost on December 14, 2010, he did not initiate further action. It is very difficult to believe that the applicant came to know about the fake NOC only on December 9, 2010 after receiving the letter from Captain of Ports” the order reads. “The offence, being an economic offence involving crores of rupees, which appears to have a deep rooted conspiracy involving a huge loss of public funds, the same needs to be viewed seriously.” The 51 year old ex-Director of Mines is currently lodged in the Sada sub jail.
Meanwhile, the SIT which is investigation 12 cases related to illegal mining has returned to Goa with concerned documents pertaining to one of the cases, from a trading company in Mumbai. An officer said the evidence will be scrutinized to decide future course of action.
