Black sand mining; order against CMRL not evidence: Lokayukta

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Lokayukta said that the Income Tax Dispute Resolution Board's order against CMRL cannot be considered as an evidence of corruption behind Thottappally black sand mining. The observation of Lokayukta Commissioner Justice Cyriac Joseph and Upalokayukta Commissioner Harun-Ul-Rashid was while considering the petition against mining filed by the protest committee.

Both also asked what is the relevance of the order against CMRL, which is not a party in the case. The Division Bench also held that this order is not necessary to establish whether over-mining has taken place.

The complainants are unable to establish who smuggled the black sand. No complaint has been raised in the petition against CMRL. The Upalokayukta also pointed out that CMRL should have been made a party if they knew who was getting the sand.

The protest committee said CMRL had paid many people to get black sand. The order of the Dispute Resolution Board proves illegal transactions. Therefore, it was demanded that the order be accepted as evidence of corruption. This demand was rejected. The petition will be considered again on 29th of this month.

To get media attention: Government

The government also opposed the consideration of the Dispute Resolution Board order. The government counsel also argued that the move was malicious to gain media attention

KMML's argument was that what is going on in Thottappally is not mining but sand removal. It was also informed that CMRL is not directly supplied with black sand.