After a lull, some steps towards tracing the money trail in the mining and chit fund scams have been taken. Assets worth Rs 400 crore of three mining entities and their owners and associates have been attached by the Kolkata zonal office of the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The ED also attached assets worth Rs 85 crore of Artha Tatwa, a chit fund company. The Odisha Government has been irked to some extent because the attachment of assets of the Artha Tatwa had been subjected to an earlier attachment by the Economic Offences Wing of the Crime Branch. The attachment orders of ED are in the course of enforcement of the prevention of Money laundering Act.
The sudden action by the ED could have been partly caused by some nudging from the SIT (Special Investigation Team) on black money. It should not be forgotten that Justice MB Shah had headed the commission on illegal mining and now heads the SIT. The SIT also has a distinguished member belonging to Odisha, Justice Arijit Pasayat. The generation of black money and the sequential money trail has been reportedly engaging the attention of the SIT. The ED also appears to have acted in terms of the directions of the Supreme Court in the case of activist Alok Jena.
The report of the Justice Shah Commission on illegal mining needs to be debated and should not be permitted to gather dust in a convenient rack of the Government. The Central Government through suitable amendments in the Mines Minerals Development and Regulation Act, 1957 literally legitimised hundreds of mines that were operating illegally under the “deeming” provision over two decades. The leases stand extended by an amendment to the Act. Now, the mine operator has to find the ways and means to fight for environment clearance. Recoveries could be affected under the MMDR Act. But the criminalities, both under general laws and under special laws, have to be pursued to their logical conclusion. Preoccupations of the ED and the CBI with West Bengal investigations probably influenced the pace of progress of the investigations in Odisha. Of late, there have been no significant developments.
A multidisciplinary analysis of the cases has to be undertaken and there could be many offences that cannot be mitigated by pecuniary penalty. In fact, the report of Justice MB Shah relating to Odisha is quite detailed and has been finalised after granting concerned parties to represent their cases. In fact, the report of Justice Shah recommended a CBI probe into the mining scam in Odisha. It was a herculean task to study the malady in the mining sector in several States. In different States, the cunning modalities that have been adopted have a large extent of commonality. The amendments to the MMDR Act do not indicate any inspiration from the report of Justice Shah relating to the mining sector.
The maladies and manipulations hitherto under, as revealed by the report of Justice Shah, should have inspired the entire Act to be revisited. Suitable amendments preventing such instances should have been comprehensively formulated and enacted. An incompetent revisional authority continues to exercise power (which is quasi-judicial in nature) with personnel not authorised and notified as per law and not having adequate background in law. In fact, the revisional authority is constituted by office orders, which are pasted on the notice board of the Ministry. Section 26 of the MMDR Act mandates that authorities who exercise powers under the Act should be notified in the official gazette. The Supreme Court has time and again held that quasi-judicial powers have to be exercised by persons adequately informed in law.
While attachment of properties of mining operators and the chit fund company has hit the headlines, a very alarming news report appeared in the context of a multinational manufacturer of two-minute noodles alleged to be containing unauthorised and unsafe level of lead and other substances. With globalisation, the necessities of having two-minute noodles and five-minute something else have attracted a large number of consumers. Kids and, to some extent, their mothers go crazy with such items. If the allegations are correct, there have been systematic violations indulged in by a well-known multinational in marketing such products. Obviously, the safety regulations were not properly implemented. After disclosures from Utter Pradesh, the initiative of political leaders, Odisha has also reported taken a preliminary step forward. Such instances should be objectively investigated and there should be no compromise. In the Western countries, one case of mad cow disease makes them to annihilate the entire herd (to which the mad cow belongs). If the allegations are true, one wonders how many millions of Indians have been consuming something which is injurious to their health. A class-action litigation is yet to play its due role in India.
These scams in mining, chit fund and the dangerous substances in common food items give an impression of systemic failures. In this failure, there are two dominant contributing parties, the Government and the people represented by political leaders. Because of their own compulsions, the political leaders do not quite often go far enough to make clinching demands. This is also a systemic malady of the polity. There is, therefore, a need of a voice of the people. The Right to Information Act has already empowered the common man. He has to now speak out and obtain his rightful dues through suitable modalities. This will itself make the Government and political leaders wake up to the fact that there is an independent voice of the silent masses.
This voice of the people has to be piloted by the youth power. It is their future, which is at stake. This is a requirement for articulating the observations before the authorities with emphasis. Education, healthcare, gender equality, social infrastructure, employment opportunities and the like are what should normally concern the youth. The systemic failures have also contributed to the denial of these facilities as the wealth and health of the society have been illegally hijacked by powerful sections to subserve the ends to unjust enrichment. But the experience and maturity of the elders should benefit the youth in the course of the interactions. It looks a herculean task, but the need of the hour is to build a new bridge for ensuring constructive activities. This movement should also bridge the generation gap. When we talk of the future, we cannot be limited to small bickering. The conscious citizens at different levels should now discuss these issues involving their interests that need to be projected before the Government with appropriate demands. This can harbinger a people-oriented action-plan.
The teachers all over should inspire the students to come up with suggestions on matters concerning them and through interaction evolve a work programme at the village grassroots level. This move could hijack the mushrooming village youth clubs, which are presently limited in their orientation. Very often, there are allegations that some of them have controlled by dons and have become dens with the muscle and money-powered youth leader controlling them. At the village level also, teachers have a very crucial role to play. Denial of basic amenities to the schools should be brought forth with all the tenacity at our command. Our village level healthcare has to receive greater attention. All these require fine-tuning and calibration in social engineering. For achieving this, organised and sustained efforts have now to be thought of. A good beginning can be by each one of us talking to some likeminded persons and gradually build up a pyramid of actions congenial to effective and meaningful results. And this concerns us all!
(The writer, a Senior Advocate, is a former All India Service officer, a former diplomat, a former editor, a former President of Orissa High Court Bar Association and a former Advocate General of Odisha. yantdas@hotmail.com)