former Union environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan

CBI books former environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan in corruption case

NEW DELHI: More than three years after BJP made “Jayanthi tax” a poll issue, the Central Bureau of Investigation ( CBI ) has filed a corruption case againstfor alleged irregularities in granting and stalling green clearances during her tenure in UPA-II.CBI raided Natarajan’s premises in Chennai on Saturday and the agency alleged that she conspired with a private company in Jharkhand and abused her official position in clearing diversion of forest land for a steel plant in the state.The former Congress minister was sidelined in the party since the 2014 election and has since given vent to her unhappiness with the party leadership. But the fresh spotlight on her role as environment minister revives attention on scams and scandals that dogged the UPA in its second term in office at the Centre.CBI has alleged that Natarajan gave the clearance to the company in 2012 for mining in violation of the existing mining and environment laws as also the directions of the Supreme Court.“Natarajan, the then minister of state for environment and forests, accorded the approval for diversion of 55.79 hectares of forest land for non-forestry use to ECL (Electrosteel Casting Limited), though the same had been rejected by the earlier MoS… without any change in the circumstances after rejection,” CBI stated in its FIR. The forest advisory committee, CBI says, considered the proposal twice before rejecting it on the ground that the proposed mining area was part of core zone of Singhbhum Elephant Reserve and critical to wildlife conservation.Natarajan wrote a letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi in November 2014, accusing Rahul Gandhi of making “specific requests” on stalling projects and claimed his office was planting stories against her. Disassociating itself from the former minister, Congress had said that the timing and content of Natarajan’s letter indicated she was under pressure from corporate houses linked to BJP to name Rahul.The federal anti-corruption agency registered five preliminary enquiries (PEs) in 2014-15 for probing alleged irregularities and corruption charge in environment clearances stalled and approved during her tenure — some of them against unknown environment ministry officials, Jindal Steel and Power Ltd and JSW Steel — for clearances to Rungta Mines in Ghatkuri Reserve Forest of Jharkhand and others.Some of Jayanthi Natarajan ’s decisions were contested by her Cabinet colleague Jairam Ramesh at that time. CBI sources say they have Ramesh’s letter to Natarajan and it is part of the evidence.After filing an FIR under Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption act on Thursday, CBI teams searched her residence in Chennai on Saturday, besides premises of other accused in Delhi, Kolkata and a private company’s office in Sundergarh, Odisha.The agency has named Natarajan, Umang Kejriwal, then managing director of Electrosteel Casting Limited, and the company in its FIR.The case pertains to clearance given for diversion of forest land in Saranda forest in Singhbhum district in Jharkhand to mining company Electrosteel in alleged violation of the Forest (Conservation Act) in 2012.Earlier, then minister of state for environment Jairam Ramesh had rejected the permission to the company but when Natarajan took over charge of the ministry, she cleared it, says CBI.The approval was accorded without adhering to the advice of DG (forests) and directions of the Supreme Court in this regard.CBI’s PE in the matter, lodged in 2014, revealed that ECL signed an MoU with the Jharkhand government for setting up a steel plant in the state in 2004 for which production capacity was increased from one million ton per annum to three million ton per annum in 2007. In 2006, the state government asked the ministry of mines for grant of lease of 192 hectares of land in favour of ECL.Then, on April 17, 2008, Jharkhand sought approval of the environment and forests ministry for diversion of 55.79 hectares of forest land for non-forestry use out of the total area of 192 hectares.None of the Congress functionaries were immediately available for comments on the raids on Natarajan.