Leader Online Desk : Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav has been booked by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the much talked about Hamirpur mining scam in Uttar Pradesh. He was ordered to appear at the office in Delhi today (February 29) for questioning. SP president Akhilesh Yadav has sent a reply to the CBI notice.
I cannot come to Delhi, investigation can be done in Lucknow itself
Akhilesh Yadav said that I cannot come to Delhi. The case can be investigated in Lucknow itself. He is fully ready to cooperate with the investigation. Why sent a notice even before the Lok Sabha elections clarifying that you can participate in the inquiry even through video conferencing, why no information was sought after 2019 i.e. in the last 5 years? Why sudden notice sent? He has also asked such questions to the CBI.
In 2019, the CBI had registered a case in the Hamirpur mining scam case. Akhilesh Yadav is not charged in this case. However, they are going to be questioned as witnesses regarding the irregularities in the process of giving lease of the mine. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is also investigating the matter. Along with the SP, the Congress has termed the issuance of notice to Akhilesh Yadav as a political ploy and accused the government of misusing the investigation mechanism.
what is the matter
Akhilesh Yadav also held the geology and mining portfolios during the Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh. Despite the ban by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), it was alleged that illegal mining was going on in many places including Hamirpur. The then District Magistrate of Hamirpur B. A CBI investigation has revealed that Chandrakala along with officials and employees of the Department of Mines violated the rules from April 13, 2012 to June 6, 2014. It was also pointed out that 50 mining leases were given in ignorance.
On the orders of the Allahabad High Court, the CBI had in March 2017 registered seven preliminary investigations (PEs) on complaints of mining scams in Hamirpur, Shamli, Fatehpur, Deoria, Siddharthnagar and other districts between 2012 and 2016. . A case was registered against 11 persons including Chandrakala and Legislative Council member Ramesh Mishra and other unidentified persons. After this, on January 5, 2019, CBI B. Chandrakala's Lucknow flat, along with 14 locations of mining department employees and contractors in other districts were raided.
Mines were leased out without e-tendering and some old leases were also extended. The investigation agency had found evidence that the then mining minister of the SP government, Gayatri Prasad Prajapati, was also involved in this case. The CBI had alleged that the then Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's office sanctioned 13 projects in a single day on February 17, 2013 in violation of the e-tendering policy.
Legal action was taken against Gayatri Prasad Prajapati who was Minister of Geology and Mines in the SP government. Gayatri Prajapati was also interrogated by ED for a long time in the mining scam. Before Gayatri Prajapati, Akhilesh Yadav was the Minister of Mines in the early days of SP. Akhilesh Yadav's role regarding the leases allotted at that time is believed to be under investigation.
