Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)
Bengaluru, Oct 11: The state high court, on Thursday, October 10, instructed the state government to submit a detailed status report on the allegation of illegal mining and encroachment of Sathanur protected forest area located around Kanakapura town in Ramanagara district. The court passed this order based on allegations of illegal mining and forest encroachment levelled against the former minister, D K Shivakumar, his brother and MP, D K Suresh, and 62 others.
With this, the case which had forayed into the high court in 2013 has got a fresh lease of life. B C Narayanaswamy and A C Shivakumar from Kanakapura taluk had approached the high court through a public interest litigation (PIL) in 2013, seeking to entrust this case to the Central Bureau of Investigation.
The division bench observed that the state government had last filed its objections on February 7, 2015, and wanted to know developments that have taken place subsequently. It also sought a report on the steps taken based on U V Singh report and wanted to know the current situation concerning clearing of forest encroachments, the current status of departmental enquiry ordered against 22 erring forest department officials, and the present condition of the first information reports, charge sheets etc filed in cases pertaining to these violations.
The division bench of the high court has now posted the PIL to December 5 for hearing.