Chennai: The Central Bureau of Investigation on Saturday raided the Chennai residence of former Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan after filing an FIR against her in connection with clearance given during her tenure for diversion of forest land for mining in alleged violation of laws.
According to the FIR registered by CBI (a copy of which is with News18), Natarajan, who was a minister of state under the UPA government, has been booked under Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The CBI has also booked one Umang Kejriwal, the then managing director of Electrosteel Casting Limited, and the company besides other unidentified persons.
The agency is also conducting raids at the premises of Natarajan’s associates in Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Ranchi and Odisha's Sundergarh, officials said.
The case pertains to clearance given for diversion of forest land in Saranda Forest, Singhbhum District in Jharkhand to mining company Electrosteel in alleged violation of Forest (Conservation Act) in 2012.
The permission was rejected by Natrajan’s predecessor Jairam Ramesh, but when Natarajan took the post, she allegedly cleared it.
“Jayanthi Natarajan, the then Minister of State for Environment and Forests accorded the approval for diversion of 55.79 hectares of forest land for non-forestry use to ECL, though the same had been rejected by the earlier Minister of State...without any change in the circumstances after rejection,” the CBI FIR alleged.
It said this approval had been accorded without adhering to the advice of Director General Forests and directions of Supreme Court in this regard.
Apart from this case, there are few more preliminary enquiries on the manner in which her ministry had then granted environmental clearance to various private players, sources said. The allocations under the CBI scanner correspond to the irregularities pointed out in the M B Shah Commission report on illegal iron ore and manganese ore mining in Jharkhand. The commission had recommended independent probe into various cases. It had submitted its first report on illegal mining in Jharkhand in October 2013.
During the last general election campaign, Narendra Modi, who was then the BJP prime ministerial candidate, had dubbed the clearance process as “Jayanthi tax”, referring to public perception about the manner in which environment clearances were given during her tenure.
Natarajan, who was the Minister for Environment and Forests from July 2011 to December 2013, had quit the Congress in 2015 and attacked party vice-president Rahul Gandhi. She accused Rahul of interference in Environment ministry during her stint as the minister.
Natarajan claimed she followed Rahul’s directions on the issue of green nod to certain big ticket projects but was “vilified, humiliated and sidelined” by central leadership. “I have done no wrong. I am willing to be hanged or go to jail if any concrete proof of my wrongdoing is established,” Natarajan had said.
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