Panaji: Former Goa chief minister Digambar Kamat, indicted by Justice MB Shah Commission in its report on illegal mining in the state, on Friday said the commission never asked him to present his side.
"I was never called for any inquiry or justification by Shah Commission. Whatever is interpreted by the Commission in the report should be verified by the state government," Kamat said, reacting to the report for the first time.
The commission has blamed Kamat, who held the mine portfolio while he was the chief minister, and his predecessor Pratapsingh Rane for condoning the delay by around 40 mine owners in converting their mining licenses, obtained during the Portuguese rule, to "mining leases" under the Mineral Conservation Rules 1960.
Kamat on Friday said his name crops up in the report only with regard to this condonation. "That is an interpretation of the law, and the state government will now have to verify it," he said, adding that his decisions back then were based entirely on the advice of the state law department.
He also said he did not see any reason to quit as MLA. The ruling BJP had on Thursday demanded that Kamat should resign as MLA.
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