13 leases given nod on single day: CBI

Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav allegedly approved 14 mining leases in Hamirpur, in violation of his own government’s e-tendering policy and an Allahabad High Court directive, according to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Approval for 13 of these leases was given on a single day, February 17, 2013, days after the High Court had on January 29 passed an order ratifying the e-tendering policy, said a CBI official. Mr. Yadav had held additional charge of the Mining Ministry between 2012 and 2013.

“As many as 22 leases were given by the U.P. government in Hamirpur district in violation of its own order dated May 31, 2012, for e-tendering of mining permission,” said the official. “One of the beneficiaries was former Samajwadi Party MP Ghanshyam Anuragi, to whom the lease was granted during the tenure of Gayatri Prasad Prajapati as Mining Minister in February 2014.”

During a preliminary enquiry, initiated after a High Court order in 2016, the agency had identified the other alleged beneficiaries in Hamirpur as Ramesh Mishra, Rakesh Dixit, Dev Narain Dixit, Malti Mishra, Shiv Ram, Suresh Mishra, Vinod Kumar, Dinesh Mishra, Pramod Kumar, Ashok Kumar, Madan Pal Singh, Rabia Begam, Kaushalya Chaubey and Harihar Minerals.

The details pertain to a case registered by the CBI last week to probe the alleged illegal mining of minor minerals in Hamirpur. Among those named as accused are 2008-batch IAS official B. Chandralekha, Samajwadi Party Member of Legislative Council (MLC) Ramesh Mishra, and Sanjay Dixit, who had fought the election in 2017 on a BSP ticket.

The agency also conducted searches on 14 premises of the accused persons in Delhi and U.P.’s Hamirpur, Lucknow, Kanpur and Jalaun.

“Other persons were allowed to excavate and steal minor minerals, extort money from the lease holders and drivers of the vehicles transporting minor minerals,” alleged the agency, adding that the alleged illegal activities caused wrongful loss to the exchequer and undue gain to the accused persons.