Just a few months after the ruling Congress filed corruption cases against State BJP chief and lingayat strongman BS Yeddyurappa who is fighting a crucial battle against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the ensuing Assembly polls, on Saturday alleged a major coal scam in Karnataka and the direct involvement of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Power Minister DK Shivakumar in it. In a press conference in Bengaluru on Yeddyurappa made a Rs 417 crore coal scam and directly blamed Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar.
He said “Siddaramaiah and Power Minister DK Shivakumar have taken bribes, kickbacks to get the public sector Karnataka Power Corporation limited to pay a penalty of Rs 417 crores that they were not liable to pay.” Shivakumar a powerful vokkaliga Minister was raided when he was hosting many Congress MlAs from Gujarat who were taking shelter in Bengaluru before the Rajya Sabha elections.
Yeddyurappa also demanded a CBI probe to this major coal scam which will have repercussion in Karnataka politics. He backed his allegation based on documents released to the media and said the State run power corporation has paid Rs 110 crores in penalties in 2014 and Rs 337 crores in 2017 though there was no need to.
He said “ In 2014, when the Supreme Court cancelled all coal mining licenses and levied huge penalties, EMTA, a private firm which has tied up with the State's power corporation, should have paid the money. Instead, the corporation was made to pay up”.
The Karnataka Congress's working president Dinesh Gundu Rao dismissed the allegations. “All charges and allegations are baseless lies. He (Yeddyurappa) is being misguided by people I think. He is being controlled by people who are taking him in a wrong direction,” he said.
This is the second allegation levelled at the Chief Minister by the BJP in week’s time. last week BJP had filed a complaint against Siddaramaiah, accusing him of bribery for a decision that cost the Bengaluru development authority Rs 300 crores.
The KPCl, in September 2002, formed a joint venture company, KECMl, along with the EMTA to supply coal for its power generation projects. The KPCl had 26% shares and the EMTA 49% shares in the JV. In November 2003, the Union Ministry of Coal allotted some coal blocks in Maharashtra, exclusively for the KPCl, which later requested the Ministry to grant mining lease on these blocks in the name of the KECMl.
However, the Supreme Court in its 2014 verdict declared allotment of 42 coal blocks as illegal, including allotment in favour KPCl/KECMl, and ordered recovery of Rs 295 per tonne from the allottees of coal blocks as additional levy.
later, the Union Government enacted the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015 to implement the apex court verdict and this law allowed recovery of additional levy at Rs 295 per tonne from those in whose name mining leases were executed.
Based on this law, Maharashtra demanded Rs 417.95 crore as additional levy from the KECMl, which refused to pay saying that the coal blocks were allotted to the KPCl. However, the KPCl said its liability was to pay only Rs 110.43 crore as it holds only 26% shares in the KECMl. This stand resulted in both the KECMl and the EMTA approaching the High Court against notices issued for recovery of additional levy.