Madras High Court order CBI to probe illegal beach sand mining in Tamil Nadu
The Madras High Court on Monday ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the massive alleged illegal beach sand mining scam worth Rs 5,832 crore in Tamil Nadu’s coastal districts of Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, and Kanyakumari.
The court directed the central agency to investigate the role of government officials and stated that political nexus in the matter could not be ruled out.
A division bench comprising Justices SM Subramaniam and M Jothiraman instructed the CBI to register criminal cases and launch an investigation. The order was issued in response to a batch of petitions, including a suo motu public interest litigation, as well as petitions filed by VV Minerals and 29 others.
“In the light of above discussions, this Court finds it a fit case to refer the matter to CBI. Hence, based on the findings in the Committee reports discussed above and based on all other materials available on record, the CBI is directed to register criminal cases and launch investigations. Also, any pending cases relating to the issues discussed in this judgment registered by the Tamil Nadu Police are directed to be transferred to the CBI for enabling effective investigation. All related case files shall be handed over to the CBI within a period of four weeks,” the bench stated in its order.
The court directed the CBI Director to constitute the necessary number of Special Investigation Teams (SITs) comprising officials with expertise and high integrity to conduct the probe. It further ordered that the CBI Director personally monitor the investigation.
The court identified key issues that required investigation, including the modus operandi of the illegal mining mafia, the role of officials in the chain of command, and their omissions and commissions that led to a “huge economic loss to the State exchequer”.
The probe would also examine alleged corruption and connivance between officials and private mining companies involved in illegal extraction, transportation, storage, and export of beach sand minerals.
The role of officials in the Royalty settlement process, where arbitrary fixation of royalties allegedly benefited certain mining companies, would also be scrutinised.