Tumkur: Asserting that there was no question of protecting either officials or political leaders involved in illegal mining, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday said his government was doing its best to implement former Lokayukta Santosh Hegde’s report on the scam that has cost the state dearly in terms of its environment and revenue.
“We have formed a Cabinet sub-committee to look into the cases of illegal mining and also filed FIRs in several cases,” he told reporters here in response to queries on government action on illegal mining, which has devastated parts of the state. Asked why over 700 officials indicted by the Lokayukta in the scam had still not been brought to book, he assured the government would take legal action against them.
“There is no question of protecting anybody, including officials or political representatives,” he declared. When asked why he was not doing anything about “tainted ministers” in his Cabinet, he claimed he had no reason to act as there were none in the government. “It is not fair to compare my government with the previous BJP administration. People of the state know what we are doing and what the BJP government did,” he added.
