The Supreme Court appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money headed by former apex court judge Justice MB Shah has asked the State Government to look for possible tax evasion by eight mining lease holders who mined iron ore without having any environmental clearance.
In a letter to the State Government last month, SIT Vice-Chairman Justice (Retd) Arijit Pasayat had asked it to find out from Chief Commissioner of Income Tax in Bhubaneswar how it has dealt with the illegalities committed by eight mining lease holders who mined iron ore without having any environmental clearance.
The Shah commission’s report on Odisha mining scam had pointed out that between 1994 and 2012, eight leaseholders in Mayurbhanj district extracted 2.27 million tonnes of iron ore without necessary forest and environment clearance.
According to the Shah Commission, these eight leaseholders include Ghanashyam Mishra and Sons, lal Trader and Agencies, BC Dagra, JK Choube, GS Choube, DC Dagra, Dinesh Chander Das and BK Das.
Of them, Das mined a maximum of 4.85 lakh tonnes between 1994-95 and 2011-12.
The Shah panel in its report, submitted in June last year, had recommended cancellation of the leases.
The SIT has also asked the Central Board of Central Excise to find out if duties, along with penalty and interest, have been levied on such mining operations, sources said.
Earlier on August 24, Justice Arijit Pasayat had held a meeting with Government officials at Cuttack to figure out if mining companies, which generate huge illegal income by drawing more than the allotted quantity of ore, stash it away as black money.