The Karnataka unit of the Congress party has found itself sinking deeper into a cesspool of Corruption. Of late, the party leaders and their family members had been trying to fight the opposition’s charges of ‘corruption’, irregularities, and ‘misuse of power’ in Land scams by ‘returning’ the scam-tainted land parcels. However, in a major embarrassment for the party on the Corruption front, Congress MLA Satish Sail has been convicted in a multi-crore illegal mining case.
Notably, on Thursday, a special court in Bengaluru meant for public representatives convicted the Congress MLA in the multi-crore illegal mining case from 2009-10. Currently, Sail is a Congress MLA from Karwar. Apart from the Congress MLA, a retired Deputy Conservator of Ports and seven private firms were also convicted in this case.
The initial probe was undertaken by the Karnataka Lokayukta in March 2010. It was found that nearly eight lakh tons of iron ore were transported from Bellary to the Belekeri port near Karwar without mining, forest, or transport permits. Later, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) prosecuted the case.
The special court convicted Sail, then deputy conservator of the port, Mahesh Biliye, and Mallikarjun Shipping Company – owned by Congress MLA Sail – in three cases of illegal exports from the Belekeri port. At the time of the crime, Sail was a businessman. He was later elected as an Independent MLA from Karwar in the 2013 Assembly polls. Currently, he is a Congress MLA from Karwar.
The court held Sail, Biliye, and Mallikarjun Shipping Pvt Ltd guilty in two cases of criminal conspiracy, theft, and cheating. Retired official Biliye is also accused under the Prevention of Corruption Act, of 1988. A businessman named K Mahesh Kumar has been found guilty in a third case.
According to the CBI, the case involves the alleged “illegal excavation of iron ore to the tune of 50 lakhs metric tonnes worth Rupees 2500 crores (approx) and its subsequent export from the Belekeri Port in Karnataka”.
Meanwhile, after pronouncing the convictions, the special court directed authorities to arrest Sail and others and posted the matter for sentencing on Friday.
The special court observed, “Though the offence was not committed by him as an MLA, it is required to be remanded that the people in high office should always behave in a manner which will be exemplary to the society and certainly not of committing fraud on the public at large.”
Corruption heat intensifies for Karnataka Congress
The Congress MLA has been convicted in the multi-crore scam at a time when the top leadership of the state unit including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has found themselves entangled in serious land scam allegations. Incidentally, the alleged case of irregularities in the land allotment by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority – dubbed as a MUDA scam in common parlance – has seen multiple twists and turns.
Interestingly, Parvathi, wife of CM Siddaramaiah, had ‘returned’ the scam-tainted 14 pricey plots, a day after her husband was booked by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case concerning the MUDA scam case.
‘Ploy’ to return scam-tainted plots backfiring on Congress?
The developments in the Land Scam row have caused major embarrassment for the grand old party. In recent months, several Congress leaders along with their family members have been hit by back-to-back Land scam allegations. While the Congress leaders and their kins have hailed themselves for “voluntarily surrendering land parcels”, it has sharpened the BJP’s line of attack against them and has garnered them major public embarrassment.
Interestingly, the return of scam-tainted lands has deepened troubles for the Congress party as it has only intensified and furthered the severity of these allegations, which would further intensify after the conviction of Congress MLA Satish Sail.
Additionally, BJP and netizens have sharpened their attack saying that the return of the land parcels is nothing but an “admission of their guilt” and that it doesn’t absolve their accountability from the alleged crime or prove their innocence.
Apart from the MUDA scam case, the Karnataka unit of the Congress party has found itself between a rock and a hard place on the land allotment by the Karnataka Industrial Development Board (KIADB).
The son of Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Kharge is the chairperson of Siddhartha Vihar Trust. Strikingly, the tainted trust is run and managed by the family members of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge.
The trust, which incidentally has several other members of the Kharge family, had sought land to set up a ‘Multi-Skill Development Centre, Training Institutes and Research Centre’. On 12th February 2024, it submitted a proposal to the KIADB and within a short span of around a month the proposal was approved.
However, on 20th September, Rahul Kharge wrote a letter to the Chief Executive officer of the Karnataka Industrial Development Board (KIADB).
He wrote, “Withdrawal of our request for Civic Amenity site to set up Multi Skill Development Centre, Training Institutes and a Research Centre.”
While CM Siddaramaiah is already under ED scanner, the latest conviction of a Congress MLA would further intensify BJP’s attack on the Congress party and further aggravate its woes with anti-incumbency rapidly catching up with the state government which is yet to complete its half tenure.