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The Rise and Fall of Reddys—A lesson for the political parties

September 14th, 2011 Girish Nikam

When the 1999 lok sabha elections were announced and Congress President, Sonia Gandhi a greenhorn in politics then, chose Bellary as one of the two constituencies to contest, the reason why she chose it was because it was considered one of the safest constituencies for the party in the country. Congress had never been defeated before there, and despite the BJP strong-woman Sushma Swaraj deciding to contest against Sonia, the Congress’ faith was not betrayed.

However, the Congress was given a scare during the campaign, as the BJP put up an unprecedented fight. As speculations started doing the round about how suddenly BJP had gained so much ground in a constituency, where it never existed before, the names of Reddy brothers(Karunakara, Janardhan and Somashekara) was heard in whispers. The rumours about them spending a lot of money to project Sushma and how they had left behind some of the well known leaders behind in the constituency in terms of organizing the campaign was also heard. But they were hardly seen.

Sushma lost the election, but the Reddy brothers had managed to acquire a heavyweight patron as well as legitimacy. Sushma’s benign blessings and her decision to attend the annual Varamahalakshmi pooja in the residence of Reddy brothers in Bellary started from 2000 onwards, and from every visit of hers annually, their clout also started to grow.

Around the same time their fledgling mining business, boomed, as China started importing iron ore, and the Reddy brothers’ daily profits were rumoured to be anywhere between Rs.3 to 5 crore! With the newly acquired wealth and the clout of Sushma Swaraj behind them, the Reddy brothers grew from strength to strength.

By the time the 2004 elections to both the Lok Sabha and Karnataka Assembly was declared, the Reddy brothers had acquired so much clout that the two of them were given tickets, Janardhan Reddy, the middle of the three brothers and the master-mind behind their business and politics, got the ticket to Assembly and his elder brother, Karunakara Reddy, for the Lok Sabha.

Both won, and with it ended the monopoly the Congress had over the Bellary Lok Sabha constituency for over five decades, and also the hold over the district.

इस लेख को हिंदी में पढ़ने के लिए यहां क्लिक करें. (साभार- राजस्थान पत्रिका)

Meanwhile the Reddys had started acquiring a lot of wealth through legal and illegal(more illegal) mining, real estate and other businesses. They were also aided by the coming to power of Y.S.Rajashekara Reddy, in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, with whom they had struck by then a close friendship, despite being in rival parties. YSR and Reddy brothers formed a nexus, and it is now all unraveling, as the CBI investigations into the wealth and properties of the Reddy brothers and the son of YSR, Jagan Mohan Reddy spills out.

Janardhan Reddy , who is rumoured to have slept on silver bed, and sat on golden chairs, his wealth was the path to political power. The BJP which encouraged the brothers and their right hand man, B.Sriramulu, right through the decade of 2000, and used their wealth to win elections and buy up rival party MLAs, in several “Operatio Kamala”, it is now testing time. However the party is unwilling to give up on them, as the brothers hold too many secrets of many leaders, both at the Central and State level.

Though Janardhan Reddy is jailed in Hyderabad, following the arrest by the CBI, with his cousin, Srinivasa Reddy,the BJP leadership continues to make noises in their favour. The clout of the Reddys despite the Lok Ayuktha indictment and later the CBI arrest, is evident from the fact that the BJP President Nitin Gadkari landed in their house for the last Varamahalakshmi pooja, after Sushma Swaraj distanced herself from the brothers.

It is rumoured in the State BJP circles that the Reddy brothers have gifted a golden sword and a Rs.1.5 crore worth car to the BJP President on the occasion.

However, whatever effort a section of the BJP leadership may make to keep their doors open for the Reddy brothers, their woes are not going to end in a hurry. The CBI’s as well as the Lok Ayuktha’s list of charges against the Reddy brothers are so long and so elaborate that it will take a long time for them to escape, if ever they do.

The recent revealations from the Lok Ayuktha report about the way in which the entire illegal mining operations were being controlled by Janardhan Reddy through Karapudi Mahesh is also a damning indictment, which is yet to be taken up by the Karnataka Lok Ayuktha. The CBI’s cases in Andhra Pradesh itself will take a long while, even as the Lok Ayuktha in Karnataka will now move in anytime to launch prosecutions.

Meanwhile, the huge amount of gold, silver, cash and man many incriminating documents recovered and yet to be recovered has shown that the weak protests by some BJP leaders about Centre launching a witch hunt against the Reddy brothers don’t stand scrutiny.

For Janardhan Reddy who at one time entertained hopes of becoming the Chief Minister of Karnataka, and held the BJP leadership under his control, the times have changed fast. From the luxurious bungalow in Bellary to the jail in Hyderabad it has been rapid fall. The growth and fall of the Reddy brothers on the Indian political firmament just in a matter of 12 years, is a lesson for all political parties, which have been encouraging and basking in the glory of such dubious moneybags, who from being behind the scene operators claimed and got centre stage. It is soul-searching time for all political parties.

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Kiran Bedi and Om Puri– Accept the mistake and put an end to it

September 4th, 2011 Girish Nikam

At the receiving end of people’s wrath and cynicism all through the last one year or so, the MPs and politicians have certainly never had it so bad. The spate of scams and the general atmosphere of distrust it has generated against the politicians, climaxed at the Ram Lila maidan last week, when all and sundry took to the stage and had a go at the politicians.

Two of them now face action from no less than the Parliament itself, as the two were seen having crossed all limits of decency. Kiran Bedi, the former police officer and the key member of Anna Hazare’s team and the ageing film personality, Om Puri had directly attacked the MPs. While Bedi who is seen as one of the members of Team Anna, who made negotiations difficult for the UPA Government by her adamant approach, mocked at the MPs using a “ghoonghat” and calling them “ganwar” among other things.

Om Puri, known for his brilliant acting skills, however disappointed the multitude of his fans, when he appeared on the Ramlila stage, in a drunken state and started speaking completely out of context, even mentioning a well-known TV anchor and making up a story about her disappearance from the country. What however got the MPs ire was his reference to them as “illiterate” and “corrupt” who makes crores of rupees in a short time. He also rambled on, “I feel ashamed when an IAS or IPS officer salutes a ganwar, who is a neta . We have more than 50% ganwar leaders. Don’t vote for them,” before he was asked to vacate the stage.

इस लेख को हिंदी में पढ़ने के लिए यहां क्लिक करें (साभार- राजस्थान पत्रिका)

The furious MPs have moved a motion of breach of privilege in both Houses of Parliament. Though the movers of the motion are low-profile MPs from smaller parties, there is no doubt from the mood among the MPs that they have almost unanimous support from everyone. “We should send these people to jail for a few months, only then they will learn”, has been the general feeling among many MPs, cutting across party lines.

The two MP/politician-bashers join an illustrious list of people who have been hauled up by the Parliament, for showing disrespect to the members. They include, Khushwant Singh, Osho or Acharya Rajnish, as he was also known as and the acid tongued Shiv Sena Patriarch Bal Thackaray.

Though there are different types of breach of privilege MPs, the one dealing with current incidents relates to the “speeches and writings reflecting on the House, Members etc”, as laid out in the Rules of procedure of the two Houses.

The rule states, “It is a breach of privilege and contempt of the House, to make speeches—– reflecting on the character or proceedings of the House or its committees or on any member of the House for or relating to his character or conduct as a Member of Parliament. Such speeches or writings are punished by the House as a contempt on the principle that such acts “tend to obstruct the Houses in the performance of their functions by diminishing the respect due to them.”

However, interestingly, William Gladstone, the great British Liberal and four time Prime Minister in the nineteenth century, discussing the issue of breach of privilege, states, “Breach of privilege is a very wide net, and it would be very undesirable that notice should be taken in this House of all cases in which hon’ble members are unfairly criticized. Breach of privilege is not exactly to be defined. It is rather to be held in the air to be exercised on proper occasions when, in the opinion of the House, a fit case for its exercise occurs. To put this weapon unduly in force is to invite a combat upon unequal terms wheresoever and by whomsoever carried on…Indeed, it is absolutely necessary that there should be freedom of comment. That freedom of comment may, of course, be occasionally abused; but I do not think it is becoming the dignity of the House to notice that abuse of it”.

Interestingly even the Indian Parliament has taken Gladstone’s advice seriously more often than not. For instance in the case of Osho, the Rajya Sabha Chairman, decided to ignore his rather shocking statements. He had been reported in Navbharat Times on Aug.3,1986, to have said, “Members of Indian Parliament are mentally under-developed. If investigations are made they would be found to have mental age of 14 only.” Then Chairman R.Venkataraman, in his ruling to a privilege notice, dismissed the rantings , “We generally treat such remarks beneath our notice…It is inconsistent with our dignity to attach any importance to the vituperative outbursts or irresponsible statements of a frustrated person”.

In the case of Khushwant Singh also, the Rajya Sabha brushed aside his critical comments about MPs voting to raise their own emoluments.

However in the case of their own, a former MP, K.K.Tewari, the Rajya Sabha who made derogatory remarks against the Rajya Sabha chairman, the house was stern. It summoned him to the House and charged him with contempt of the House and was reprimanded in the bar of the House.

The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, before which the breach of privilege notice against Kiran Bedi and Om Puri is now placed, will have the option of seeking an apology and if given treating the matter as closed. Om Puri has already expressed regret for his statements, and possibly he will also give it in writing. In the case of Kiran Bedi is she persists with her stand that she will not apologise, the two Houses may even go to the extent of summoning her to the House and reprimanding her and in the worst case scenario even sentencing her to imprisonment for some time.

What this entire episode shows is that though there are occasions when politicians and MPs are criticized and shown in poor light, there has to be a limit to the criticism and should never cross the borders of decency. Both Om Puri and Kiran Bedi obviously have crossed those borders, and therefore it is understandable that the MPs have been forced to take action against them. It is now upto Bedi, like Puri to show the grace to tender an apology and close the matter. If she persists, it is she who will be seen as the offender and not the Parliament, whose dignity is more important than an individual’s ego.

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Anna Hazare, UPA Government and the “Grammar of Anarchy”

August 18th, 2011 Girish Nikam

photo- panini anand

On the morning of August 15, when Prime Minister braving the incessant downpour briskly climbed up the ramparts of the Red fort, his mind was obviously occupied by the issue of probity in public life. No wonder he spent nearly one third of his address on the issue of corruption and tried to convince the country he and his government was serious in tackling it. Though how convinced the people of this country are, is a moot point.

24 hours later, Dr.Manmohan Singh and his government and also by association, the Congress party, was battling not only the issue of corruption, but also had acquired the dubious tag of being “autocratic, repressive and dictatorial”, by its mindless act of arresting the civil society activists, led by Kisan Baburao Hazare(alias Anna Hazare). They had nobody else to blame for adding to the nation’s conscience the issue of “democracy under threat” to the already full blown frustration about corruption.

The somersault 12 hours later by withdrawing all charges and allowing Hazare and company to be released from Tihar Jail also backfired badly, as the old man refused to budge, until he was released unconditionally and allowed to fast as planned. The bungling Government had no other option but to succumb to it also. But he put more conditions. In the bargain, in 24 hours, the UPA Government had turned Hazare from an anti-corruption activist to a “savior of democracy”!

The Government evidently had no idea or refused to admit to itself, the extent of dismay and frustration among the people about what is perceived as all-pervading corruption, when it asked the Delhi police to lay down unprecedented conditions for undertaking a fast by Hazare and his group. Of course, there is some substance to the argument that when a legislation is the property of the House, the best way is to take recourse to the mandated and well established parliamentary procedures to put across your point, and not resort to fast unto death and other such tactics.

In fact the Government and its supporters have a strong proponent of their point of view. None other than the architect of the Indian Constitution, Dr.B.R.Ambedkar. In his stirring concluding address to the Constituent Assembly, before it adopted the newly written Indian Constitution on Nov.25,1949, the great man made these remarks, which has abundant significance in the present context. He said:

“If we wish to maintain democracy not merely in form, but also in fact, what must we do? The first thing in my judgement we must do is to hold fast to constitutional methods of achieving our social and economic objectives. It means we must abandon the bloody methods of revolution. It means that we must abandon the method of civil disobedience, non-cooperation and satyagraha. When there was no way left for constitutional methods for achieving economic and social objectives, there was a great deal of justification for unconstitutional methods. But where constitutional methods are open, there can be no justification for these unconstitutional methods. These methods are nothing but the Grammar of Anarchy and the sooner they are abandoned, the better for us”.

However the advice of Dr.Ambedkar has gone un-heeded all these years, and Hazare and his lot have also shown utter disdain, especially when they have insisted that the Lok Pal Bill should be what they think it should be and nothing less. And based on this adamant (almost bordering on a childish tantrum ) stand, Hazare and company have sought to impose their views on the Parliament and millions of people who don’t agree with his views. The methods that Dr.Ambedkar above refers to as the “grammar of anarchy”.

It is important to mention here that the Jan Lok Pal Bill cannot be the ultimate, as there are equally eminent people including jurists and lawyers of the stature of former Chief Justices of India, J.S.Verma and M.N.Venkatachalaiah, former Delhi High Court Chief Justice A.P.Shah, Soli Sorabjee, Harish Salve, former Lok Sabha Speakers Somnath Chatterjee and P.A.Sangma and distinguished social activist Aruna Roy, to name a few, who have differences on key issues in it. All of the above named, don’t think either the judiciary or the Prime Minister should come within the ambit of the Lok Pal. So for Hazare and his cohorts to say that those who are opposed to their idea are supporters of corruption, is appalling and completely authoritarian. One is reminded of the infamous statement of George Bush, the former President of United States, when he said, “if you are not with us, you are against us”.

Unfortunately, these key issues that need discussion and wider consultation have been relegated to the background by the completely tactless approach of the UPA Government, in trying to muffle Hazare. In the bargain, they have managed to bestow on Hazare the halo of a warrior for “democratic values”, when his track record as a democrat itself has been under serious suspicion. His former colleagues and fellow travellers confirm it. Please watch this video to understand why there are such suspicions about him (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD7fCRY7J94), if any proof is necessary after his unyielding “me and only my bill” attitude he has adopted.

However, that the UPA Government has been found woefully inadequate in convincing the people about its intentions, even after it has brought the Bill to the Parliament, as Hazare had demanded earlier, is due to the complete lack of understanding of the processes of democracy. The top decision-makers in the Government and the Congress party, who have brought the situation to this sorry state of affairs are all very articulate lawyers, alright. But it is apparent from the way they have bungled along, from first ignoring Hazare’s fast, then serenading him by forming the joint committee without any opposition members in it, later sucking up to Ramdev only to conduct a midnight raid on his camp, and now abusing Hazare and later arresting him and releasing him, and yet getting stuck, are all clear indications of a thinking process which has no understanding of the political processes in a democracy.

What is needed is not legalistic-bureaucratic approach to a political problem, but an ideologically-sound and democratically-convincing political approach which understands the pulse of the people. The tragedy is that the present leadership both in the Government and the Congress party do not want to rely on people who have such attributes within and the result is there for all to see—the “grammar of anarchy” gaining ground, as Hazare and company keep shifting the goal post at will.

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Has Yeddyurappa become a Frankenstein for the BJP?

August 2nd, 2011 Girish Nikam

For a national political party like the BJP, nothing can be more embarrassing than their top decision-making body, the Central Parliamentary Board, is made to look like a helpless spectator. A party which prides itself on its “disciplined cadre” and never misses an occasion to blow its trumpet now finds itself in an unprecedented state. The virtual thumbing of the nose by its Karnataka strongman, B.S.Yeddyurappa, to its decision asking him to resign, for three days, and then making the more unprecedented declaration that a particular leader, Sadananda Gowda, should succeed him, is nothing short of a revolt.

There has been no similar instance in memory, where an outgoing Chief Minister in any party, certainly not from any national parties like the Congress or BJP, or even CPI(M) for that matter has had the gumption to declare his successor, without the party’s legislative body or its top decision making body, taking a decision. Yeddyurappa however is not known to show any respect to procedures, conventions or even laws, going by all that has tumbled out of the Lok Ayuktha report, and also the various exposes’ during his most controversial 38 month tenure as Chief Minister and 20 months as Deputy Chief Minister.

also read- How Yeddyurappa and his family benefitted from the Jindals

Has Yeddyurappa grown too big for his boots? Has he or does he think he is far too big a leader to care for Delhi’s diktats? And is he someone the party can and should continue to appease? These are the questions which have been dogging the minds of the Central party leadership of the BJP for the last few days, and sooner they find answers to these questions, the better it is for the party and its health.

Karnataka is not new to the game of musical chairs, when it comes to the Chief Ministership. Even giants like S.Nijalingappa had to make way for B.D.Jatti just one and half years after he became Chief Minister, in 1958. S.R.Kanthi did not last for even four months. Veerendra Patil, in both his stints failed to complete the full five year term, his second stint lasting less than a year. Ramakrishna Hegde had a chequered time, resigning thrice during his five year stint. S.R.Bommai was brought down by internal party dissidence in eight months. Even the formidable Devaraj Urs found himself unceremoniously thrown out in his second stint in less than two years. S. Bangarappa, also lasted just over two years, while his fellow socialist from his home district, Shimoga, J.H.Patel, also lasted for only three and half years.

However none of the above-mentioned had to quit under the ignominious circumstances in which Yeddyurappa had to tender his resignation. None of the above faced the kind of indictment which Yeddyurappa now faces. And none of them made a song and dance of resigning the way Yeddyurappa has done and made a spectacle of himself. And no one has used caste as brazenly as he has done in these last few days. And incidentally, one has also to admit, that no one has managed to muster the kind of support he has done, as he waited for the auspicious time to resign.

Yeddyurappa has no doubt created an entirely new base for the BJP in Karnataka, and has toiled hard to nurture it. But there can be no doubt that the methods he has adopted are far from being called fair or even sometimes constitutional. His brazen ways of appeasing his own community, Lingayats, mutt heads by showering funds, land and patronage, his outlandish ways of catering to the two major mafia—the land mafia and the mining mafia— his unabashed ways of using money power to lure MLAs from other parties, have all happened right under the nose of the Party’s central leadership.

If the party central leadership is wringing its hands in despair today, wondering how to deal with a rampaging and brash Yeddyurappa even after he has resigned, they cannot blame anyone but themselves. It was no secret that he was hated for his dictatorial ways by most ministers in his cabinet, as he centralized powers and did not allow most of them to pass any major file without his assent. Most of the non-lingayat MLAs and MPs, had been complaining to the central leaders forever, about his unabashed casteist ways. There were a litany of complaints about the shameless corruption and nepotism that he and his sons were indulging in.

But all that had fallen on deaf ears, as the Central party leadership thought he was invincible with his awesome lingayat vote base and the money power he had acquired beyond anyone’s belief or expectation in the last three years. It was this benevolent attitude and benign neglect of the complaints against him which now finds the Central party leadership facing a Frankenstein, which has the capacity to destroy all that was built over the last few years.

For Yeddyurappa it’s all or nothing game. He wants his own man, Sadananda Gowda as the Chief Minister. The minute this is accepted, he will want his own man/woman or better himself as the Party President, and the litany of demands will never end. His aim is clear—he wants to use them to protect him from the future litigations and prosecutions which he is most likely to face. If he does not get what he wants, he is even willing to ruin all that he had built. Of course, he thinks he can split the party and take the majority away, and either attempt to form another government or even go for fresh elections.

His confidence ( over-confidence) actually stems from the number of MLAs, MPs and ministers still hovering around him and backing him before the Central leadership. It is interesting to note that most of his backers now, are those who he had managed to lure from Congress, erstwhile Janata Dal(U) and Janata Dal(S). They are heavily indebted to him, as he has not only ensured their win but has also bank-rolled their elections and has also ensured that their financial future is secure. And of course many of them belong to his community too.

For the BJP leadership, it is a time of reckoning. Do they want to succumb to the pressures of a tainted former Chief Minister or are they willing to give up a government, their first in South India. Not an easy choice alright.

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How Yeddyurappa and his family benefitted from the Jindals

July 31st, 2011 Girish Nikam

we are publishing the pages (362 to 378) from the report prepared by Lok Ayukta of Karnataka.

REPORT ON THE REFERENCE MADE BY THE GOVERNMENT
OF KARNATAKA UNDER SECTION 7(2-A) OF THE
KARNATAKA LOKAYUKTA ACT, 1984
(PART – II)

———————————————-

M/S SOUTH WEST MINING COMPANY LIMITED

Dr. U.V. Singh in his Report submitted to me in the above chapter, has discussed some sensitive matters in regard to certain payments made by South West Mining Company Limited to a trust of which the sons of Chief Minister are trustees and so also certain sales effected by the son and son in law of the Chief Minister, of an acre of land in the suburb of Bangalore to M/s South West Mining Company Limited which according to the report is abnormal.

2) Dr. U.V. Singh has in his report traced the possible relationship between Jindal Group of Companies with M/s South West Mining Company Limited.

3) It is found from his report that the Jindal Group has set up its first steel plant in 1982 at Vasind near Mumbai. Soon after, it acquired Piramal Steel Ltd., which operated a mini steel mill at Tarapur in Maharashtra. The Jindals, who had experience in the steel industry, renamed it as Jindal Iron and Steel Co. Ltd. (JISCO). In 1994, the Jindal Vijayanagar Steel Limited (JVSL) with its plant located at Toranagallu in the Bellary-Hospet area of Karnataka has been set up in the heart of the high-grade iron ore belt and spread over 3,700 acres of land. In 2005, JISCO and JVSL merged to form JSW Steel Ltd (JSW).

4) The Jindal Group is one of the largest Groups in the State having a steel plant at Toranagallu. The main supply of iron ore to this Steel plant is from mines in Bellary district. The JSW is also having mines managed jointly with Mysore Minerals Ltd (MML) through Vijayanagar Minerals Pvt. Ltd (VMPL). The mine is known as Timmappanagudi Iron Ore Mine (TIOM). The VMPL is a joint venture Company of JSW and MML. The iron ore is supplied through an agreement and conditions therein. There is another Company by name M/s. South West Mining Ltd (SWML) having office at Main Road Old JVSL, Administrative Building, Vidyanagar, Toranagallu. In their letter pad the address is shown as JSW Mining Office, Near Talur Cross, P.O. Vidyanagar-583275, Toranagallu.

5) The details of export and domestic trading of iron ore by M/s. South West Mining Ltd was sought from this office letter dated 07-01-2011 and 20-01-2011. The details so required were submitted by the Company and has been analyzed. For having certain clarification the authorised signatory of the SWML was requested to be present in this office. Sri B.P. Pandey and his associates were present on 03-03-2011. The matter was discussed with respect to the records submitted by M/s. South West Mining Ltd.

6) It is to state that there is a JV (Joint venture) agreement between MML and JSWSL (the then JVSL) for sharing of produce generated out of TIOM Mines. As per the agreement the sharing of iron ore is restricted between the two (MML and JSWSL). There is no provision for selling the iron ore to third party. Contrary to agreement in the year of 2003-04, there was a sale of 85,022 MT by VIMPL to South West Mining Ltd and the same had been exported along with other iron ore. A total 3,65,594 MT have been exported during 2003-04 and 2004-05 by SWML as per the information submitted by them. The MML has not taken any action in this regard.

7) To supply iron ore to JSW Steel Ltd the company has submitted proposal for grant of iron ore mining lease in Donimali range on 18/7/2007. On the same date two more proposals for different locations by SWML and VMPL has also been submitted. The details of proposals submitted by them and recommended by State Government in past are pending in Government of India. The details are as under: (table-1)

Table-1
SL No… Name of Company… Extent (Hecters) Area
1 South West Mining Ltd., Vidyanagar, Toranagallu 184.14 Donimali Range
2 Vijayanagar Minerals Pvt Ltd 181.70 Donimali range
3 JSW Steel Ltd. 188.12 Donimali range

8. It is to state that there are three proposals of grant of mining lease in favour of JSW Steel Ltd, South West Mining Ltd (SWML) and VMPL Ltd pending since 2007, were in active consideration of the State Government for replying a query raised by Ministry of Mines, Government of India regarding whether there is any complaint case pending against the proposals (Govt. of India letter dated 26/2/2010). In another letter, the Govt. of India forwarded a copy of news paper report dated 8/3/2010, which appeared in the “Financial Express” captioned “SC Notice to Center, JSW others on Karnataka Mining Case”. It appears that the Hon’ble High Court Division Bench’s Order dated 5/6/2009 is under adjudication before the Hon’ble Supreme Court. The Govt. of India requested the State Government to furnish the comments in the matter, in the light of the above report. This information was called in the month of March 2010. The Government of India also wanted to know whether the proposals can be processed by the Ministry. The JSW, SWML and VMPL have submitted the letters to the Director, Mines and Secretary, Mines requesting to submit suitable clarification to Ministry of Mines, Government of India so as to process the recommendation of Government of Karnataka in their favour. The copy of the representation is submitted herein as (Annexure to Chapter-22 of
Dr.U.V.Singh’s Report at pages 1-14). The details of the representations are given as under:

Table-2
Sl No Name of Company Date of representation To Extent Hectare
1 South West Mining Ltd 31/3/2010 Director, Mines, B’lore 184.14
2 JSW Steel Ltd 5/03/2010 Director, Mines, B’lore 188.128
3 VMPL 31/03/2010 Director, Mines, B’lore 181.70
4 JSW Steel Ltd 02/3/2010 The Secretary, C&I Dept. Govt. of Karnataka 188.128
5 South West Mining Ltd. 31/3/2010 The Secretary, C&I Dept. Govt. of Karnataka 184.14
6 JSW Steel Ltd 29/7/2010 The Secretary, (Mines) Dept. Govt. of Karnataka

9) It is to be noted that though the above mentioned companies made their application for grant of mining lease on 18/7/2007, the same was not pursued till March-July 2010. By the said time, the Government of India had sought feed-back on certain issues and the Government of Karnataka was to reply to the same. The correspondence made between the companies mentioned herein above and the Government clearly shows that the companies concerned were keen on persuading the Government to send replies to the Government of India in their favour.

10) During the investigation, the Investigating team of the Lokayukta found certain unusual transactions. Hence, to ascertain the particulars of transactions of South West Mining Limited, in respect of its purchase and sale, bank accounts details of SWML was requested as per letter dated 18/2/2011. The SWML has submitted the details as under:

Bank Name – State Bank of Mysore
Account No. – 64010486365
Branch – JVSL Branch, Toranagallu, Dist. Bellary

11) On perusal of the said account certain abnormal transactions of money has been noticed. The details of the said transaction are given as under: (table-3). (Annexure of Chapter-22 of Dr.U.V.Singh’s Report –pages 15 -27).

Table-3

Sl. No.-Post Date-Value date-Paid to Cheque No.-Amount Rs.
1 17.03.10 17.03.10 Prerna Education Trust 433038 5,00,00,000.00
2 18.03.10 18.03.10 –do– 433037 5,00,00,000.00

12) From the tables above, it is to state that Rs.10.00 crores have been paid to “Prerana Education Trust” on 17/3/2010 and 18/3/2010. Further, it is to state here that an amount of Rs.119124000.00 has been credited vide cheque no. 80912 dated 26-02-10 in the account no. 64010486365 of SWMC. The said amount has come from the account of M/s. JSW Steel Ltd. from the bank of Vijaya Bank, JVSL branch, Toranagallu. A letter dated 18/03/2011 of Vijaya Bank is enclosed as Annexure to chapter-22 of Dr.U.V. Singh’s Report. With this trail of transaction it is clear that the amount finally came from the account of JSW Steel Ltd which is paid to the Prerna Trust. There is no trade of iron ore between the two during the period. It is further stated that the balance in the bank account no. 64010486365 of South West Mining Ltd was running under overdraft during that period and also in other periods in the range of 3 to 5 crores. If we go by the trail of money transaction it can be construed that Rs.10.00 crores has been paid by JSW to Prerana education Trust.

13) In the subsequent months there are also abnormal payments of heavy amounts in favour of certain individuals. The details of value date, paid to, cheque number and amount is given as under: (table-4). (Annexure of Chapter-22 of Dr.U.V. Singh’s Report – pages 15-27)

Table-4
Sl. No– Value date– Paid to– Cheque No.– Amount Rs.
1 14.08.10 BY Vijayandra 002419 2,50,00,000.00
2 14.08.10 BY Raghavendra 002418 5,00,00,000.00
3 16.08.10 Sohan Kumar 002420 2,50,00,000.00
4 01.09.10 R.N. Sohan Kumar 004369 1,25,00,000.00
5 01.09.10 BY Raghavendra 004367 2,50,00,000.00
6 01.09.10 Vijayendra 004368 1,25,00,000.00
7 04.09.10 R.N. Sohan Kumar 004444 1,25,00,000.00
8 04.09.10 BY Raghavendra 004442 2,50,00,000.00
9 09.09.10 Vijayendra 004443 1,25,00,000.00
Total 20,00,00,000/-

14) On enquiry from the management of the company it was told that the amount of Rs. 20.00 crores was paid for the purchase of land at Bangalore and following details were given: (table-5).

Table-5
Sl. N o. Date Paid to Cheque No. Amount Rs. Remarks
1 11/8/2010 B.Y.Raghavendra 2418 50000000.00 Amount paid towards part
2 11/8/2010 R.N. Sohan Kumar 2419 25000000.00
3 11/8/2010 Vijayendra 2422 25000000.00 payment of purchase of 1.00 acre land at Manyata TechPark, Bangalore as per agreement dated 28/7/2010
4 25/8/2010 B.Y. Raghavendra 4367 25000000.00
5 25/8/2010 R.N. Sohan Kumar 4369 12500000.00
6 25/8/2010 Vijayendra 4368 12500000.00
7 31/8/2010 B.Y. Raghavendra 4442 25000000.00
8 31/8/2010 R.N. Sohan Kumar 4444 12500000.00
9 31/8/2010 Vijayendra 4443 12500000.00
Total 200000000

15) The South West Mining Ltd has also submitted the details of the land purchase in Bangalore i.e. agreement to sell and sale deed etc. On going through the details for agreement to sell signed between Sri Vijayendra S/o Sri B.S. Yedeurappa and Sri R.N. Sohan Kumar S/o Sri R.D Nataraj and South West Mining Ltd, Vidyanagar, Toranagallu. As per para 2 of Agreement to Sell, (Annexure to Chapter 22 of Dr.U.V.Singh’s Report, at pages 32-39 ) it has been stated that full consideration amount of a sum of Rs.100,000,000.00 (Rupees Ten Crores) has been paid to the vendors by the purchasers (in the month of July 2010). The details of the cheques etc. is kept blank in the said para 2 of Agreement to Sell. It is to be noted here that all the cheques in this regard has been paid in the month of August 2010 and validity dates fall in August and September 2010. The date of the agreement is kept blank but it is signed in July 2010. Hence there is a mismatch recorded in the agreement signed and amount actually credited in the accounts of the vendors. If consideration has been paid on the date of Agreement to Sell of Rs. 10,00,00,000.00 then the payments made in August and September 2010 by cheques may not be towards sale consideration.

16) In the second Agreement to sell (Annexure to Chapter 22 of Dr.U.V.Singh’s Report, at pages 32-39), between Sri B.Y. Raghavendra S/o Sri B.S. Yedeurappa and M/s South West Mining Ltd, it has been stated that Rs. 10.00 crore has been paid on the date of agreement to sell, as full consideration towards the entire sale consideration. There are no recorded details of cheques etc. in this para 2 (i) of the Agreement to Sell. In this case also there is a mismatch of recorded details for the amount credited in the account of vendor and the bank details in Agreement to Sell. In this case also if consideration of Rs. 10,00,00,000.00 has been paid on the date of Agreement of Sale, then the payments made in August and September 2010 by cheques may not be towards sale consideration.

17) It is further noted here that the e-stamp certificates are purchased from the Sandur on 28-07-2010 and on the same day (28-07-2010) the Agreement to Sell has been signed at Bangalore. It is further stated that the land value at Rachenahalli Bangalore may not be Rs. 200,000,000.00 per acre. These aspects require further investigation by a competent investigating agency.

18) It is to State here that an amount of Rs. 10,00,00,000=00 has been deposited in the account of SWML from the account of M/s. JSW Steel Ltd, SBM, JVSL Branch of cheque no. 087924 of account no. 0054017410598 on 12-08-2010. Subsequent to this an amount of Rs. 2,50,00,000=00 was paid through cheque no.002419 in favour of B Y Vijayandra and on the same day (14-08-2010) Rs. 5,00,00,000=00 by cheque no. 002418 paid in favour of BY Raghavendra. Again an amount of Rs.2,50,00,000=00 vide cheque no. 002420 paid in favour of R N Sohan Kumar on 16-08-2010. Further an amount of Rs.5,00,00,000 by cheque no. 066255 has again been credited in the account of South West Mining Company from the account of JSW Steel Ltd, SBM, JVSL Branch account no. 0054017410598 on 31-08-2010. Following this credit, an amount of Rs.1,25,00,000=00 by cheque no. 004369 in favour of RN Sohan Kumar, Rs. 2,50,00,000=00 by cheque no. 004367 in favour of BY Raghavendra and Rs. 1,25,00,000=00 by cheque no. 004368 in favour of BY Vijayendra have been paid on 01-09-2010. Further an amount of Rs. 1,25,00,000=00 has been paid vide cheque no. 004444 in favour of RN Sohan Kumar and an amount of Rs. 2,50,00,000=00 vide cheque no. 004442 in favour of BY Raghavendra on 04-09-2010. Again an amount of Rs.
1,25,00,000=00 has been paid vide cheque no. 004443 in favour of BY Vijayendra on 09-09-2010. The rest of the amount has been paid by overdraft from the account of South West Mining Limited.

19) It is relevant to state here that large amount has been credited to the account of SWML through RTGS from Karnataka Bank Limited from the account of Jindal Praxair Oxygen Company Limited on 30/6/2010. Subsequent to this an amount of Rs.13,00,00,000=00 has been paid in the account no.0054017410598 (State Bank of Mysore) of JSW Steel Private Limited on 02-07-2010. Later on an amount of rs.10,00,00,000.00 from the account of JSW Steel Ltd has been credited in the account of South West Mining Company on 12/8/2010. It is further stated that from 2/7/2010 to 12/8/2010 there is no heavy credit and debit made between JSW Steel Ltd and South West Mining Company. Hence this amount in circuitous route has come from M/s. Jindal Parayiar Oxygen Company Ltd.

20) With the above it is inferred that amount which is credited from the account of South West Mining Company to Prerana Education Trust and to vendors Sri. BY Vijayandra, BY Raghavendra and R.N. Sohan Kumar actually has come from the account of JSW Steels Ltd. The payment of such huge amounts creates strong suspicion as to whether such payment is made for getting favour i.e. for submitting a favourable reply to Central Government by the State Government for processing the proposals to grant of iron ore mining leases in favour of JSW, SWML and VMPL. Such possibility cannot be ruled out.

21) From the above facts, it is noticed that M/s South West Mining Company Limited was financially not sound. It had made certain applications for grant of lease simultaneously with Jindal Iron and Steel Company Limited (JISCO) and Jindal Vijayanagar Steel Limited (JVSL) for the grant of certain lands for the purpose of mining of iron ore. These proposals/ applications are pending with the Government of India. It also requires to be noted that the matter was pending at the stage of replying to quarries raised by the Ministry of Mines, Government of India. There were certain Writ Petitions and Special Leave Petitions pending against the above proposals in the months of March 2010 and July 2010. Simultaneously, Government of India also wanted to know whether the proposals can be processed by the Ministry. The JSW, SWML and VMPL have submitted the letters to the Director, Mines and Geology and Secretary, Mines requesting to submit suitable clarification to the Ministry of Mines, Government of India so as to process the recommendation of Government of Karnataka in their favour. The copy of the representation is submitted in the report of Dr. U.V. Singh as Annexure to that chapter.

22) From the above facts, it is seen, the source of donation given by SWML to Prerana Trust has come from J.S.W in circuitous manner, which has then donated the said money of Rs.10.00 crores on 17/18.3.2010. It raises a question, why J.S.W had to transfer money to SWML to give donation to the Trust, when it could have directly given it to the Trust, when in reality, SWML was not in a financial condition to make such huge donation. From the nature of transaction, it looks that it is the JWSL which is making the donation through SWML. The circumstances and the manner in which the donation has been made gives rise to the suspicion that this money is not a donation, as it is understood in the common parlance, but money paid for some other consideration. Similarly, the sale of one acre of land by sons and son in law of the Chief Minister in Rachenahalli village to SWML is shrouded with suspicion.

23) In the documents of agreement to sell, it is stated that the entire consideration amount was received on the date the said agreement was signed. But from the records, it is seen that cheques amounting to Rs.20.00 crores were received on different dates, after the date of agreement to sell. The consideration amount paid for purchase of this land again has particularly come from Jindal Praxair Oxygen Company Limited, which transferred this amount to Jindal Steels, which in turn has transferred the money to M/s. SWML, which again in turn paid the same as consideration amount to Chief Minister’s sons and son-in-laws. This type of convoluted transfer, coupled with the contradictions in the agreement of sale and the actual date of payment of consideration, certain creates a genuine doubt.

24) I have obtained the Notification showing the guidance value of the price of lands in Rachenahalli village. The same indicates that in this village for industrially converted land, the price is Rs.1.24 Crores per acre. The land sold by the family members of the Chief Minister is Industrially converted land. Therefore, taking the highest price shown in the guidance value and compared with the amount received by the family members of the Chief Minister, for one acre in Rachenahalli village, I find it extremely difficult to believe that this huge amount would not have been paid by a company for purchase of one acre of land, where the prevailing price is only 1.24 crores, as sale consideration, that too when the company does not have its own financial capacity to purchase this land. No prudent business person would pay such a huge amount for purchase of one acre of land, unless there was other collateral consideration.

25) I have already noticed that on or about that time of both purchase of the land and donation, three applications were pending before the Government of Karnataka and suitable reply favouring the companies concerned would have been of great advantage to these companies. Therefore, I am of the opinion that these are sham transactions and the donation and the excess payment made to the family members of the Chief Minister, is to get a favourable reply from the State Government to the Central Government. In this background, receipt of money either as donation or as sale consideration amounts to receiving illegal gratification to show an official favour, which is an offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. Therefore, I consider it necessary to recommend to the Competent Authority to take appropriate steps to initiate criminal proceedings against the Chief Minister and such other persons who are involved in the said transaction.

26) With this conclusion, since the report under the Karnataka Lokayukta Act to take action has to be made to Competent Authority, who is His Excellency, the Governor of Karnataka, under Sec. 2(4) of the Karnataka Lokayukta Act, 1984 in the case of the Chief Minister, I will have to send a copy of this Report to His Excellency the Governor of Karnataka. This procedure was followed by me, when in an almost similar situation in regard to a former Chief Minister of Karnataka in the year 2008, while submitting a report to the Government, a separate Report was sent to the then His Excellency the Governor of Karnataka. The same procedure is followed and while the main report is presented to the Government of Karnataka, a copy of this Report will be sent to His Excellency the Governor of Karnataka for taking appropriate action, as recommended above.

Sd/- (N.SANTOSH HEGDE)
LOKAYUKTA

————

ILLEGAL SUPPLY OF EXCESS IRON ORE BY WAY OF OVERLOADING TO J.S.W. STEELS PRIVATE LTD

The Jindal Group has set up its first Steel Plant in 1982 at Vasind near Mumbai. Soon after, it acquired Piramal Steels Limited, which operated a mini steel mill at Tarapur in Maharashtra. The Jindal, who had experience in the Steel Industry renamed it as Jindal Iron and Steel Company Limited (JISCO). In the year 1994, Jindal Vijayanagar Steel Limited (JVSL) with its plant located at Toranagallu in Bellary Hospet area of Karnataka, has been set up in the heart of the high grade iron ore belt spreading over 3,700 acres of land. In 2005, the JISCO and JVSL merged to form J.S.W. Limited. The J.S.W. Steel offers and the entire gamut of steel products, at its plant at Toranagallu in Karnataka, as also in some other places in Maharashtra and Tamilnadu. Dr. U.V.Singh’s report shows that the website view of this company has made the projection by 2020, the company seems to aimed to produce 34 million tons of steel annually with Greenfield integrated steel plants coming up in West Bengal and Jharkhand.

2) The Director and Chief Executive Officer of the J.S.W. Limited has written a letter to the Chief Secretary to Government of Karnataka on 12/4/2011 stating their requirement for steel plants in Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamilnadu would be about 27.15 million ton (C’ ore, fine)this according to Dr.U.V Singh’s report is on the higher side. The production of the steel and the corresponding iron ore utilization for the years of 2006-07 to 2010-11 as provided by the company in its reply to the office of the Lokayukta is about 9.6MTs for the year 2009-10. Of course the projected requirement is for production of steel and iron ore utilization of J.S.W. Steels. At the request made by Dr. U.V. Singh’s team, on behalf of the Lokayukta, the J.S.W. Toranagallu has furnished its receipt of iron ore from April 2009 to July 2010. The information submitted by it have been verified from the employee of the company and conclusions recorded is found at Table-2 of Chapter 23 of the report of Dr. U.V.Singh. According to Dr. U.V. Singh Report Table-2 shows that the J.S.W. received 1,35,79,148 MTs of iron ore at its factory from 60 vendors and out of which, some of them are lessees and others were traders. The truck wise details for these suppliers have been analysed and it is found that some of the suppliers are supplying iron ore in excess to the permissible quantity i.e., more than 16 MT per lorry load. Dr.U.V. Singh also indicates that from the material that is available before the team, it could be inferred that in addition to transporting the iron ore without permits and use of single trip sheet for multiple trips to transport the iron to JSW Steels Ltd.

3) As per the information provided by J.S.W steels to Dr. U.V. Singh’s team, it is noted that 60 companies/Lessees/ Traders are supplying the iron ore to the J.S.W. Steels via road and rail. Truck wise data for the month of April 2009 to July 2010 has been perused and by tallying the quantity that was received by the company it was concluded that large quantity of iron ore is being supplied in excess as over load to the permissible limit. Thus, as per Dr. U.V. Singh’s report, 46 suppliers have been named as suppliers who have supplied the ore over and above as over load, for which the State has not got the value of the mineral.

4) According to the calculation made by Dr.U.V. Singh’s team, if the total quantity of iron ore is calculated by taking 16 MT per lorry, the iron ore transported through trucks to JSW by various lessees/traders should have been 65,33,872, but in reality from the records it was found that the J.S.W. during the same period received 78,26,276 MTs, thereby it has received 12,97,707 MTs in excess, which was the quantity of which the State did not get not only the royalty, but also it has suffered loss for which huge amount of market value. The particulars of such illegal materials which are detailed company wise in the report of Dr. U.V. Singh is considered by me herein.

5) Even by excluding the multiple use of some permits which is a common thing in iron ore transportation and ignoring the cases of small quantity of over loading, the finding of Dr. U.V. Singh’s committee is that during the relevant period, at least 12,97,707 MTs of Iron ore was supplied in excess to J.S.W. Limited, which it calculated at the rate of Rs.2,500/- per MT, which was the prevailing market rate at that point of time. The loss suffered by the State comes to Rs.324,42,72,500/- (Rupees Three Hundred Twenty Four crores forty two Lakhs Seventy Two Thousand Five Hundred only). After perusing the report and the materials relied upon by Dr.U.V Singh’s committee and accepted by me the State Govt. should take immediate steps to recover this amount of Rs.324,42,72,500/- for supply of excess illegal iron ore from the suppliers and J.S.W Steels Ltd., and also take suitable action against the transporters for having over loaded and for having transported the stolen materials belonging to the State. In my considered opinion minerals being the property of the state, if removed illegally and transported, the transporter becomes the abettor to the crime of theft.

6) Action should also be taken against all those who are involved in the illegal mining under the relevant provisions of Law, with recovery of losses to the State Government and penal actions should also be resorted to, wherever necessary.

7) The above recommendations are made under Sec. 12(3) of the Karnataka Lokayukta Act, 1984. The action taken or proposed to be taken on these recommendations be intimated to this authority, as required under Sec. 12(4) of the Karnataka Lokayukta Act, 1984.

Sd/- (N.SANTOSH HEGDE)
LOKAYUKTA

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Telangana on the boil—Congress paying for its indifference

July 7th, 2011 Girish Nikam

On Dec.9, 2009, when Home Minister P.Chidambaram made that late night statement, promising to initiate the process of the formation of a separate state of Telangana, succumbing to the pressure from the Telangana Rashtra Samithi(TRS) chief, K.Chandrashekara Rao’s fast unto death, the Centre had opened a Pandora’s box.

As the Telangana region starts to boil once again, with the 48 hour bandh call given by the Joint Action Committee taking violent proportions, the Centre continues to look clueless and seems to be suffering from a policy paralysis.

The decades old demand for a separate state– comprising of the 10 districts of Andhra Pradesh, with a population of 3.53 crore (latest 2011 census) making for 41.6 percent of the State’s population and an area of 1.15 lakh sq.kms., larger than many States in the country—seems to have now reached its peak. The ostrich-like attitude adopted by successive Governments at the Centre, in all these years, and especially by the Congress-led UPA Government in the last seven years has tested the patience of the Telangana separatists.

The stage now seems to have reached when they are unwilling to wait any further, putting what looks like a reluctant Congress in a fix. The spate of resignations by both the MLAs and MPs from the Telangana region, cutting across party lines, however has woken up the Congress-led UPA Government to finally start confabulations, though even that looks half-hearted.

The separate state-hood demand which for a long time was dismissed by the Centre for many years as a partisan one, and had taken the defeat of TRS in the 2009 elections (it won just 2 seats in Lok Sabha and 10 seats in Assembly) as a virtual referendum, was obviously a huge miscalculation.

Congress party which had refused to take a stand o the separate state-hood demand for a long time had however stuck an alliance with the TRS in the 2004 Lok sabha elections which was held simultaneously with the Andhra Pradesh assembly elections. Following the formation of the UPA Government, it even went ahead and included the demand for a separate Telangana in the Common Minimum Programme, and made even the TRS Chief Chandrashekara Rao(KCR) a Minister at the Centre.

It however did not display any sincerity in working towards this CMP promise leading to KCR resigning from the Cabinet in 2006. He was dismissed and ignored later on. Then Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S.Rajashekara Reddy(YSR), who came to assume enormous powers and clout, adopted a carrot and stick policy successfully through his tenure between 2004-09, to keep the separatists at bay.

The results of the 2009 elections and the successful return of YSR in the State, gave further boost to the Congress central leadership’s thinking that it had successfully quelled the demand for a separate State. However, after the tragically accidental demise of YSR, the new Chief Minister K.Rosaiah was found seriously wanting in containing the growing resentment and the groundswell of support gathering momentum.

The master stroke by the marginalized TRS chief, KCR, to go on a fast unto death in the end of 2009, demanding a separate State, more for his political survival, revived the popular sentiment. The blunder committed by Chidambaram’s statement, without proper consultations with all the stake holders especially within the Congress itself and announcing the process of formation of the new State, took the issue to a point of no return.

The tactic of buying time, employed by the Congress-led UPA by appointing the Shrikrishna Commission to look into the issue, gave it some breathing space. But it was obvious even during that one year period between the formation of the Commission and the report being submitted in January this year, that the Centre had only managed to only postpone the issue.

The report itself with its six-point solution, out of which the Commission itself ruled out the four points and spoke of a regional autonomous body as the most practical solution, did not impress the separatists. The report only heightened the emotional factor, and the movement gained more support as violence was witnessed I many parts.

The sentiments for a separate State has reached such proportions now that politicians from the three regions, Telangana, Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra, have reverted to speaking in public in their local dialects and not the common telugu which was earlier employed.

Moreover the politicians of all parties are facing so much pressure in their constituencies, especially the Telangana politicians, that they fear going to their constituencies.

Even a senior and most respected leader of the State, Union Minister S.Jaipal Reddy has had to face many such situations, where he was forced to mouth the “Jai Telangana” slogan. His earlier decision to remain neutral no more holds water and as one of the four MPs who is yet to resign from the Lok Sabha, he faces enormous pressure to do so.
The maximalist position adopted by the separatists under pressure from their constituents, leaves little room for manouevre for people like Jaipal Reddy. “It is either a separate State with Hyderabad being part of it or face the music”, is the threat posed by them to the UPA Government and the Congress leadership, even by Congress MLAs and MPs.

The Congress leadership obviously under influence from the more powerful and rich sections of the party, from the Andhra and Rayalaseema region finds itself unable to make up its mind. The casualness adopted in these last six months, even after the Shrikrishna report was ready, by the Congress leadership, has come to roost. The pained statements of its own party leaders from the Telangana region, about the leadership ignoring their demand and not taking it seriously, has much substance.

Now faced with the resignations and a total breakdown of party discipline, the leadership seems to have woken up to the seriousness of the situation. But unfortunately it doesn’t seem to have any creative solutions to the issue. The sops which it is offering, like jobs in Telangana for the locals, is an old hat, and is too little too late.
It’s a painful time for both the people of Andhra Pradesh and the Congress leadership, with no easy solutions in sight.

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The Baba Ramdev factor and the crisis of ideas

June 6th, 2011 Girish Nikam

“We need to follow the Chinese example of shooting dead the people found guilty of corruption”

“Homosexuality is a ‘disease’ and it can be cured through yoga. It is a virus and once it effects the person can go nowhere”.

“Actress such as Celina Jaitley know nothing about Bhartiya sanskriti because they always stay away from parents and have no morals”.(Celina Jaitley supports Gay rights)

“The extent of black money in the country is Rs 30,000,000 crore(!!!). The government should recall all currency in circulation and issue a new one — all unaccounted money will fall into its hands”.

“Our law says that not one innocent should be punished, even if a hundred guilty go free. We should see to it that all guilty get punished; if that includes one or two innocent, so be it.”

“Government needs to fix prices of all goods and services managed by Private enterprises and, thereby, control profits! I know most large businessmen and what kind of obscene money companies make”.

“Bollywood actors are characterless. These are the dark ages, as now our children look up to these singing and dancing females as icons. In our times they were known as Bhand the person who dances for money, now these people have become stars of Bollywood. Also they are not big actresses but rotten actresses. They change partners with every film they do”.

“A minimum qualification criteria should be fixed to stop everyone from becoming a “baba” and death sentence should be awarded to “fraud” religious gurus indulging in wrongdoings in the garb of religion”.
— Baba Ramdev’s words of wisdom

All the above statements are made by the man of the moment— RamKishan Yadav aka Baba Ramdev.

Here is the man whose views on issues from homosexuality to private enterprise are so retrograde that even his followers would find it horrifying. But all of them seem to have taken a deep breath and preferred to overlook his retrograde views and concentrate on his present obsession, fighting against black money and corruption.

Is there anyone in this country or anywhere else who dare say, we are for black money and corruption? But despite no one being in favour of it, why has this practice not stopped or rather escalated over the years? Simple. Greed. Greed is the root-cause of corruption which in turn generates black money, which lands up in foreign banks and surely in Haridwar also. And does Ramkishan Yadav have a cure for it, from any of the asanas he purveys?

He obviously doesn’t have a miracle cure tucked away even in his tens of crores worth Ashram in Haridwar or any of the multi-crore Food Parks. So what does he do? He decides to sit on a fast unto death in the nation’s capital. But then he does not say when he seeks permission, that he is going to do it. He says he will hold a Yoga camp and therefore needs the Ramlila grounds. Police and authorities are foxed, they know his real intentions, but can’t presume anything and have to give him permission when the official reason he gives is a Yoga camp. If they had presumed and denied permission, he and the media would have bludgeoned the authorities for denying permission for a perfectly legitimate activity.

The UPA Government is flummoxed. After the badgering they got when Kisan Baburao Hazare aka Anna Hazare and his bandwagon had held the fast a few weeks back in the capital, they did not want to be seen as indifferent again. So what do they do? They go overboard. They rush four ministers and the Cabinet Secretary and his appointed successor to the airport to hold talks. Apparently the plan was to hold talks there and if they don’t succeed in convincing Ramdev aka Ramkishan Yadav to withdraw his plans for a fast, they would pack him off from the airport. But despite him not agreeing to them, they lose the nerve to pack him off, and in the bargain come out looking like a bunch of defeated soldiers from a war. They also in turn earn all kinds of sobriquets, none of which any of them would even like to remember in their wildest nightmare. The Government also comes out it in poor light and rightly so.

Having been subjected to such an extra-ordinary treatment at the airport, remember not even the US President or the Queen of England gets four senior Cabinet ministers welcoming them at the airport, Ramdev aka Ramkishan Yadav thinks he can play around with the Government now. As his followers troop in from different parts of the country and start gathering at the Ramlila Maidan, he starts feeling that he has already conquered the Capital, his ultimate aim incidentally.

The Government however does not give up. It molly coddles him with responses which even an MP cannot expect on the floor of the parliament, with such alacrity. They bring out a laundry list of issues raised by him and agree to most of it. The political juvenility of it is evident to all, but the Government. The Ministers and those advising them think that they can turn the tables on the physically dexterous Ramdev aka Ramkishan Yadav, with their politically dexterous moves.

They even get him to give them a shabbily hand-written letter promising to end the so-called fast unto death. Ramdev aka Ramkishan Yadav drunk with the media-glare he has been enjoying for last 48 hours, thinks he can hoodwink the Government for some more time and enjoy the national media attention he is getting. He gets exposed, as by then the Government had enough of mollycoddling him and decides to be tough. One mistake has led to another, and late in the night it leads to one more.

Troops of security forces troop into Ramlila Maidan declares the permission granted is revoked and asks Ramdev aka Ramkishan Yadav to vacate. They resist. He even shows his simian abilities when he jumps from the stage and disappears into a mass of women and then tries to escape disguised as one of them. Though how he thought he could hide his beard in that white salwar and kurta, one can only guess. He is discovered and hustled off to the airport. Meanwhile his enraged supporters indulge in brickbats with police and women even assault policemen. Like all police forces all over do, they employ rough tactics to clear them, and even fire teargas shells. But unlike what happened in Nandigram or in many other places, they display restraint, and cause minimum harm, despite the potential for larger damage.

BJP and some other parties as well as many other people with new found fame, clog the traditional media as well as the social media with chants evoking memories of Jalianwala Bagh and Emergency. They start smelling an issue which they have been desperately searching for long. All hell breaks loose and sense of proportion seems to have become a major casualty.

Meanwhile the femininely attired Ramdev aka Ramkishan Yadav who is safely escorted back to his five-star ashram in Haridwar is found in a daze and later breaks down several times as he addresses his followers and the media, but later recovers to declare that his fast will continue, although in the safer confines of his ashram. We are all left to wait for some more melodrama and pious proclamations in the coming days.

Meanwhile, the Congress party goes into a huddle. It is sad to see that though Congress is only one, though the leading party, in the UPA Government, it has decided to handle both the Hazare and Ramdev issue as if it is only a Congress issue. Such seasoned politicians in the alliance like Sharad Pawar, M.Karunanidhi, even Lalu Yadav(who supports the government officially) are kept away and are not even consulted. Even seasoned politicians within the Congress party are kept at bay. All wisdom to handle such issues seems to be the sole prerogative of a few in the Congress party. And the results are there for all to see.

As for the question why people like Ramdev aka Ramkishan Yadav with rather dubious reputations and the rather naïve Anna aka Kisan Baburao Hazare, have gained such unprecedented civil society approval is concerned, the answer is simple— the failure of the politicians of all hue and colours to respond to the aspirations and frustrations of the common man. The sooner the politicians realize this and make amends, the better it is for a parliamentary democracy. Otherwise what we will have is autocracy of the newly discovered heroes, with questionable understanding, retrograde ideas and worse impatient agendas and ambitions, encouraged by a breathless media unable to fathom the long-term damage it is causing to the body politic of this country.

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Janus-faced Niira Radia has a “guilty conscience”: PAC

May 31st, 2011 Girish Nikam

The janus-faced character of Niira Radia has been a matter of much discussion for the last several months. Here is the evidence to it. After the last post on this site exposed her methods to obfuscate and mislead investigators during her interrogation by the CBI, the following deposition before the Public Accounts Committee of the Parliament, headed by Dr.Murli Manohar Joshi, exposes her further.

We have managed to get the copy of the entire controversial report which is in two parts, one a 205 page report containing all the details including the deposition and findings and the second part of 68 pages containing the observations/recommendations. The report which has been submitted by Dr.Joshi to the Lok Sabha Speaker, amid controversy and protests by the Congress members of the committee, who have disowned the report, incidentally is yet to be tabled in Parliament.

However we have decided to place extracts of it in the public domain so that there is a public discussion on it. The first of the extracts here are about Niira Radia, how she deposed before the committee and what the Committee thinks of her. The committee clearly feels that “her reluctance to speak the truth is somehow an indication of her guilty conscience”

Radia in this deposition asserts that the tapes of her tapped conversations out in the public domain have gone through “tremendous amount of editing” and “tremendous amount of distortion”. However she fails to prove her charge when the Committee questions her about it.

Incidentally she makes no such claims or similar charges of “distortion” or “editing”, when she is interrogated by the CBI as is clearly evident in the earlier post on this site.

Niira Radia in her own words and what she told the CBI

On the other hand she confirms every one of the 55 conversations she is confronted with by the CBI officers and gives explanations of every conversation, without ever resorting to claims of “editing” or “distortion” as she does before the PAC. No wonder the PAC has come to the conclusion that it is “an indication of her guilty conscience”.

Following are the extracts of Dr.Joshi’s PAC report:

Ms. Niira Radia while deposing before the Committee stated that the publication of her conversations with many people in some magazines was a part of corporate conspiracy against her but did not disclose who the conspirators are. Similarly, while responding to various queries of the Committee, she gave an impression that she was predetermined not to come out with the facts. The Committee feels that her reluctance to speak the truth is somehow an indication of her guilty conscience.

—Page 53, observation/recommendations of the Public Accounts Committee headed by Dr.Murli Manohar Joshi.

On 4th April, 2011, the Committee took evidence of Ms. Niira Radia, Chairperson, Vaishnavi Communications Corporation Pvt. Ltd. to ascertain the veracity of her conversation with various Politicians/Journalists/Corporate Houses on allocation of portfolios in the Union Government, allotment of 2G Spectrum, transfer of officials in the DoT, alleged payment of bribe etc.

The Committee asked Ms. Nira Radia whether the transcriptions of her Conversation with various people, as published in the Outlook and Open magazines were correct and authentic. Ms. Radia replied: “We have not accepted any of these conversations”.

13.17 The Committee asked whether any notice had been served to the Editors of the two magazines. In reply, Ms. Radia stated:
“We have served a legal notice at the time they published the conversations, Because, I believe, there is a tremendous amount of distortion in what they published and in the context in which they published the conversations and the
real conversations. I believe that there is a tremendous amount of editing that has taken place in the conversations”.

13.18 The Committee then retorted that they were informed that nobody had legally contested or contradicted what was published in the magazines. In reply, Ms. Radia stated: “If I can say, there are two aspects to this. When the conversations were made public, we did what we had to. We had to do it in terms of making at least Protesting it as far as the magazine is concerned. As far as legal recourse Available to us is concerned; we have time for the legal recourse”.
She further stated:
“……. Our priority at that time was to cooperate with the agencies because that was what was required of us to do. That is what we have done. As far as the magazines are concerned, I would imagine you are aware that my clients, who are the TATs, have taken action and they moved the court on the larger issue of privacy in which the court itself has served notices to these magazines”.

-170-

13.19 Asked to state specifically whether any legal notice was served or not, Ms.
Radia at last admitted: “We served only a protest. We have not taken legal action”. She further stated that she was intending to take legal action.

13.20 When the Committee pointed out several of her exact conversations on payment of bride for spectrum allocation of portfolio in the Union Cabinet, she simply replied that she did not recollect any thing.

13.21 The Committee then desired to know that after she was made witness by the CBI, the investigating agency must have played the tapes to her and whether she agreed with the conversation or contradicted it. In response Ms. Radia stated: “Sir, the matter is sub-judice”.
She further stated:
“I am glad that the investigating agencies went into the details. I am glad that they heard my conversations in the context that they needed to be heard. I am glad that they looked at documents and papers that were submitted in the context that had to be given and not taken out of context just because a magazine chose to carry something in a particular way. The magazine would have chosen to carry something in a particular way because we may not entertain the magazine. Today, the media is driven in a completely different way. It is driven bottom-line. It is sensationalist. So, we have taken a view to approach things slightly differently”.

13.22 The Committee then queried as to whether she meant to say that both the magazines were driven by some extraneous consideration. In reply, Ms. Radia submitted: “I think, there is a conspiracy. I believe, there is a corporate conspiracy and I have seen it”. Asked to point out the conspirators, she replied: “Anybody who would not want competition”.

-171-

13.23 The Committee then desired to know whether she was performing a public relation service or actually lobbying for her client to get them certain advantages. The Committee also categorically asked whether carrying Tata’s personal had written letter to Mr. Karunanidhi was to part of her job, according to the mandate. In reply Ms.Radia submitted: “We are not lobbyists. It is not our job to lobby. Yes, it is our job to talk to
various stakeholders, but that does not necessarily mean that we are lobbying for our client. We are simply communicating a point of view”.
On the issue of carrying Mr. Tata’s personal letter, she clarified: “…..our role, as defined in our mandate, is to communicate our client’s point of view. Carrying the letter was to hand over the letter to Shri Karunanidhi on behalf of Shri Tata……”

13.24 Asked to state whether her conversation with Ms. Burkha Dutt did not give an impression that she was lobbying. In response, Ms. Radia stated: “I think if you listen to the conversation in the context that they need to be listened to, everybody is discussing who is becoming what cabinet minister and what they are doing at that time. I do not think it was anything different from watching TV channels or watching new reports. Giving a particular point of view, we were simply asking information from journalists who were in touch with political people, who were on the political beat, who had information or who may know things because they have been reporting certain things in a particular manner that they seem to know things. All we were doing was just asking information from them”.

13.25 The Committee then asked whether the conversation did not indicate that Ms. Dutt was leading her up the garden path. Ms. Radia replied: “I do not think that anyone was leading anyone up the garden path. I think, we were just having a conversation about who is becoming the Cabinet Minister and I was relaying to her the anxiety of what our client had lived through in the previous years, prior to that. I think all I was giving her was information as I knew it about a particular person and the chemistry that existed between my client…”.

13.26 On being asked to state categorically and truthfully as to whether the tapes
were genuine or not, Ms. Radia submitted:

-172-

“At least the tapes that I have heard from the investigating agencies are genuine tapes”.

13.27 Asked to furnish the list of the conversations that was played to her by the CBI, Ms. Radia deposed: “Sir, we will write to the concerned agency and we will ask them, if this is
permissible under law. We will also make a reference of the PAC”.

—Pgs.169-172 of the main report of the PAC headed by Dr.Murli Manohar Joshi.

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Niira Radia in her own words and what she told the CBI

May 28th, 2011 Girish Nikam

The Niira Radia saga continues to hold public interest and fascinate as she roams around scot free, even as some of her close friends, like former Union Minister A.Raja and DMK MP, Kanimozhi, languish in Tihar Jail.

How does Niira Radia, because of whom the above two as well as many corporate czars and executives find themselves behind bars, continue to escape incarceration nor is even being made an accused in the 2G scam?
Despite detailed interrogation by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate, how does she manage to be free, and instead be shown as a star witness in the charge sheet filed so far by the CBI?

All these questions have been haunting people who have been following the Niira Radia saga for the last over one year, when this site first put out the secret documents of the CBI and Income Tax department, relating to the tapping of her telephones, in May 2010.

Following up on the investigations so far, here is the authentic documents of the CBI, related to the interrogation conducted by the CBI of Niira Radia at her farmhouse on four days, Dec.21,2010, Jan.25,2010, Jan.27,2010 and Jan.29,2010.

Click here to read the documents

The 25 page document consists of a declaration by Radia, about who and what she is and about her businesses and connections in her own words. She interestingly talks of her father and father-in-law from whom she learnt about aviation business, how she decided to shift to India from UK in 1994, because she wanted her children “to learn about Indian culture/customs” and how she first gained entry into aviation industry here through Sahara group.

Interestingly she discloses that her relationship with DMK MP, Kanimozhi goes back to the days of Tsunami in Tamil Nadu, when Tatas and her own company funded some relief work. Obviously this relationship for Kanimozhi has had a tsunami effect on her own life!

She also talks about how she started working with Tatas in 2001 and came to start Vaishnavi communications. She also discloses about how she came in touch with key people like J.S.Sarma, Pradip Baijal, C.M.Vasudev among others, last two became her consultants with 10 percent sweat equity in her company. She also mentions about the problems Tatas had with Dayanidhi Maran, the former Telecom Minister, and also about the crucial Tata Realty and Unitech joint venture worth Rs.1,700 crore.

The 22 of the 25 pages contain her interrogation by the CBI, on specific tapped calls and her explanation about each of the calls. 55 specific calls with date and time of the calls were played out to her by the CBI officials, during the three-day interrogation in January this year, and her explanation sought.

From the reading of these interrogation reports, it is evident Niira Radia is a master of obfuscation. She also feigns memory loss on crucial issues apart from trying to wish away some crucial conversations as generalized ones. She also indulges in gossip and later disclaims any knowledge of it.

The conversation between her and Ramesh Chandra, the Unitech Chairman about the Unitech—Telenor deal, because of which his son, Sanjay Chandra is behind bars today, is one such example.

The reports also shows how A.Raja, then minister of Telecommunications was furious with the Pioneer newspaper and its editor, Chandan Mitra, about a newspaper report published in the newspaper on Dec.11,2008. Confirming her conversation with R.K.Chandolia, the former Private Secretary to Raja, she says Raja was heard shouting at Mitra for having published the report. The report by J.Gopikrishnan, exposes the connections between Sadick Batcha( who committed suicide some months back) and Raja’s wife Parameshwari. The report can be read here (http://www.dailypioneer.com/142636/How-to-become-a-crorepati-overnight.html).

During the interrogation, Radia confirms her conversation with the editor of a magazine, Satish Ohri, who tells her about A.Raja being paid money in London and so was Karunanidhi. However she disclaims knowledge about the same.

Interestingly, Mukesh Ambani’s executive, K.R.Raja in one of the conversation with Radia, suggests to her that she should ask Dr.Subramaniam Swamy to file a PIL in a matter related to Anil Ambani’s Reliance Communication. However she tells the CBI that she told Raja, that she did not know Dr.Swamy.

Similarly confirming her conversation with Navika Kumar, Political Editor of Timesnow, held on Nov.19, 2008, she says the two discussed about Sharad Pawar having pursued matters with A.Raja on behalf of Swan Telecom and Anil Ambani’s Reliance Communications. Radia tells Navika about Pawar being directly or indirectly involved with Balwa’s DB Realties. However she tells the CBI, she has “no documentary or some other evidence—to prove if any stakes of Sharad Pawar in Swan Telecom or not”.

Interestingly, in another conversation with Chandolia where she discussed about the possible results of Lok Sabha elections in May 2009, and Raja and Kanimozhi, she explains to CBI interrogators, that she was discussing it in general way, because her company had hired experts to conduct poll analysis.

Radia also mentions the name of Arcot Veeraswamy, a very senior leader of DMK, in another conversation with Chandolia, and tells CBI that Chandolia was trying to get Arcot’s nephew, an employee of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS),a transferred to UK or USA. Another conversation with Chandolia also indicates how A.Raja is seeking a quid pro quo from Tatas, by seeking transfer of two employees, to UK or USA.

The interrogation report of Niira Radia which we are putting up in the public domain in national interest, should help legal experts to decide if what CBI is doing, by making her a witness instead of an accused, is justified or not.

Meanwhile, one thing which is clear is that CBI needs people with better knowledge of English to be writing such reports!

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Do these election results show we are ready to take on the corrupt?

May 18th, 2011 Girish Nikam

Much is being written, discussed and analysed about the last week’s results to the five State legislative Assemblies. One common grain of thought in all this is how people of these States have shown to the world that corruption is no more going to be tolerated. Even if the Governments perform, corruption and nepotism can bring down governments.

Is it really the case? Have we as voters of this nation come around really to stop tolerating corruption and nepotism? Or is it just a hallucination or a convenient media-hyped hypothesis or pop-analysis in the absence of a full understanding of what these results mean?

It was interesting early on Friday morning, when the trends of the results had just started coming in, a senior BJP leader from Delhi, known for being a clean politician, expressed shock and dismay over the Tamil Nadu trends. It was showing that both the DMK and AIADMK coalitions were running neck to neck. The leader, a guest on one of the Hindi TV channels, said this was not a good sign for Indian democracy, as the people of Tamil Nadu don’t seem to have taken note of the massive corruption of the DMK leaders.

He left the studio, before trends changed and finally the landslide win for the Jayalalitha-led AIADMK became a reality. He surely must have later rejoiced and withdrawn his remarks or rather perception of the voters of Tamil Nadu.

इस लेख को हिंदी में पढ़ने के लिए यहां क्लिक करें (साभार- राजस्थान पत्रिका)

In Kerala too, as the pendulum swung through the day, between the Left Democratic Front(LDF) and United Democratic Front(UDF), the discussion focused on how the LDF Chief Minister V.S.Achuthanandan with his strong stand against corruption almost managed to do the unthinkable in Kerala politics— retain power. But alas, the LDF lost by a whisker, and out went all those claims of Keralites voting for someone who took a firm stand against corruption.

On the other hand, in West Bengal, where real history was made, there were no serious issues of corruption. It was the “goonda raj” as the heroine of the election, Mamta Banerjee repeatedly reminded us, that she was fighting against and wanted to put an end to. And she did. It’s another matter that she has herself been charged with unleashing the Maoists and her own violent cadre and creating violence, by the Communists. Obviously her charges appealed more to the people of Bengal, than the counter-charges of the Communists.

In Assam, though there were charges of corruption against the lesser known ministers in the Tarun Gogoi government, it was commonly agreed that Gogoi’s own clean reputation pulled off his third victory in succession.

In Pondicherry, the issues that dominated the elections were never known to those outside the tiny former French colony, and it did not matter to the nation, who won or who lost.

So where was corruption actually a major issue among these five States? Tamil Nadu, of course. Here nepotism and corruption were inter-twined, and going by the results, it is the only thing which seems to have mattered. Jayalalitha’s bitter campaign against her bitter rival, Karunanidhi and his family members looting the State and the nation too, and filling the family coffers, found huge reasonance among the people.

It is another matter that the extent, to which Amma’s campaign had made inroads into the minds of the Tamil Nadu voter, had completely missed all political observers and pollsters, including this columnist. The Tamil voters, who had been pampered like nowhere else with cheap rice and ration, TV sets, houses and what not, by the DMK government in the last five years, felt no sense of gratitude and mercilessly voted against the incumbent. Apparently they were enraged with the nepotism and corruption of the Karunanidhi family.

Now was this vote really against corruption or/and nepotism? Is Jayalalalitha really the anti-thesis to corruption and nepotism? Do people of Tamil Nadu really believe that they have voted out a corrupt government and brought in a squeaky clean one? Is the memory of the voters of the State so short? All these questions inevitably have to be raised, though it may not sound politically correct in an atmosphere where the nation is rejoicing a major blow against the corrupt.

In fact, Jayalalitha’s past performance and behavior while in power twice, during 1991-96 and 2001-2006, does not really evoke confidence, though one can always hope for a change in her third stint. One however has to remember that the cases against her, for owning disproportionate assets worth Rs.66 crore is still to be decided and she may still have to appear in courts.

Certainly the voters also may not have forgotten the role of the adopted family of Jayalalitha, her friend Shashikala’s nephews and nieces and other close relatives, who dominated the decision making during those two terms, and now are certainly waiting in the wings to move in and occupy the positions and places vacated by the Karunanidhi family.

So the final question. Is Jayalalitha really the anti-thesis to corruption and nepotism? Or is she the synthesis of both! Have people really voted against corruption, or just replaced one corrupt regime with another? And in a larger context, are we as a nation really prepared to say no to corruption decisively, especially when the choice is between the devil and the deep sea?

Just a thought to ponder upon before ending— B.S.Yeddyurappa-led BJP Government in neighbouring Karnataka, won all the three by-elections on the same day. What is the message from those emphatic victories? That we are ready to take on those who indulge in corruption and nepotism and defeat them?

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