New Delhi: Hinting at suing Team Anna which accused him of wrongdoings during his tenure as Karnataka Chief Minister, SM Krishna on Thursday said these were "motivated" and aimed at maligning him.
The External Affairs Minister said while he was open for a probe, it is "highly improper" for anyone to ask for another investigation when the Karnataka Lokayukta and the High Court have found no truth in the charges against him.
Team Anna had accused him of dereserving forest land and not permitting Mysore Minerals Limited from marketing high grade iron ore fines to benefit private players.
Krishna said he will provide Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with all details about the "motivated allegations" made against him.
"If anybody makes personal allegations against me, then I deserve the right to react in a manner I think is proper," Krishna told reporters on being asked whether he planned to sue Team Anna.
Krishna was asked about Team Anna's allegations against him during a briefing on his meeting with Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
"I have no reservations for any kind of inquiry or investigation. However, since Justice Santosh Hegde, as the Lokayukta of Karnataka, had conducted a detailed investigation and had exonerated me of any wrongdoing, it is highly improper for anyone to ask for another investigation again which is aimed only at disreputing me and to malign my 50 years of unblemished public life," he said.
Referring to allegations that he deprived state-owned Mysore Minerals Ltd opportunities to market high grade iron ore fines, Krishna said the affairs of the company are managed by its board of directors and he had no role to play in its decisions.
He said Karnataka Lokayukta found nothing against him and even the Karnataka High Court had quashed all charges against him relating to the affairs of the company.
In a letter to Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal last week, Krishna had said "the allegations made are wrong and baseless. Any action by you before public forum as threatened by you will be overreaching the judicial process."
On allegations that the state Cabinet in 2002 led by him decided to de-reserve forest land, he said the issue is pending before the Supreme Court.
Krishna said following the National Mineral Policy of 1993, the state Cabinet decided to de-reserve the mineral bearing areas which were till then reserved for state exploitation.
"No forest land as such were de-reserved but only the mineral bearing areas were de-reserved," he said adding that if mineral bearing areas were found to be in forest lands then prior approval from the Centre had to be taken for carrying out mining activity.
He said though applications were received from interested persons, no application was processed during his tenure as CM between 1999 and 2004.
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