TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Was Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar aware that when he directed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to act with alacrity and take cognisance of the charge of bribery against Pratapsingh Rane and his son, made by the owner of Dahej Minerals, the owner of the company Naik had a case of criminal conviction and a series of proven false statements under oath during his battle to secure iron ore without ever having a mining lease ?
This case is no longer one of GPCC president John Fernandes batting for this same Naik and using the PCC office to level bribery charges against Goa’s longest serving chief minister who had to face the ignominy of taking anticipatory bail, in response to the SIT filing an FIR against him and his son. It’s about whose side the state government is taking in order to settle political scores with the Ranes.
All Herald is doing is putting forward facts from an array of documents it has unearthed, since Naik’s and John Fernandes’ assertions that they would come out with documents to prove that Naik did legal mining, have remained hollow. Herald now challenges these two to prove these facts wrong. Facts which John Fernandes and his crony Naik have been trying to cover and hide, including the blatant untruth that the Supreme Court had directed the government of Goa to allow him to carry out exports. The Supreme Court in its judgment dated 22/1/96, had stated that Naik himself had withdrawn the SLP saying that a fresh affidavit “if so advised” would be filed by him before the government ( for a mining lease), “in accordance with law”
So here is the story of Dahej Minerals, collated through a series of documents, at different stages
1) February 2002: JMFC Bicholim (Judge Desmond D Costa) convicted Naik under sections 447, 506(1) and 379 of IPC for criminally trespassing into another mine , taking his pistol out and threatening workers of the mine. He was pardoned under Probation of Offenders Act because of his “old age”
2) May 2004: Naik filed an affidavit before director of mines stating “I say that the company does not hold any mining leases in the state of Goa or in any other state in India”
3) April 8, 2008: Pratapsingh Rane wrote to the director of mines strongly objecting to the grant of mining lease to Dahej Minerals since the area falls under a settlement zone and there has been no mining there for 50 years
4) April 15, 2008 : A week later John Fernandes wrote to the Union Mines Minister Sisram Ola, recommending that he intervene to help Naik export ore extracted from TC no 4/59. Please now refer to point 2 above and ask if the man has no mining lease as per his own affidavit, how has he extracted ore which the current GPCC president is helping him to export?
5) September 2009: Senior Geologist AT D Souza of the Mines Department in reply to an RTI application states “No mining lease has been granted to M/S Dahej Minerals/B. Naik in the state of Goa”
6) January 2010: Naik filed an affidavit in the Court of Civil Judge Junior division, in a deposition in a case, stating that he “is in peaceful and continuous physical possession , occupation and exploitation of minerals in a specific portion of the mining area in the mining concession being TC 4/59 for the last more than 35 years.”
“Please refer to point 5 above. If the Mines Department clarified that no mining lease was granted to Dahej Minerals or its CMD Naik, then how did he exploit minerals for 35 years. If he did, these acts are not only illegal but criminal.
As the investigations proceed against the Ranes’ accused of taking bribes from this man, the above short history of the man and his way of functioning might just about help put the issue in context, without any prejudice to a free and fair investigation. Perhaps the GPCC president should be also investigated for abetting a man who has clearly carried out illegal mining.
