| CBI was all set to question Jayanthi |
New Delhi | 31st Jan 2015 |
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is investigating the environmental clearance given by the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) to iron ore blocks in Jharkhand during the United Progressive Alliance government, was getting ready to question former Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan just days before she wrote the 5 November 2014 letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi alleging micromanaging of the ministry by party general secretary Rahul Gandhi. The letter was leaked to the media this Friday. Sources said that the agency registered in October 2014, a Preliminary Enquiry (PE) in five cases relating to green clearances given by the MoEF during Natarajan's tenure. The first PE was registered on 24 October 2014, which likely prompted Natarajan to dissociate herself from the workings of the MoEF and "influence her possible questioning regarding her role in the scam", alleged a source. The source alleged that it was probably because of this that she wrote the letter to Sonia Gandhi on 5 November. Sources in the agency said that it was looking at five cases relating to the allocation of iron ore mines, all of which are in Jharkhand. "We had registered the Preliminary Enquiry in these five cases in October last year in which we had named officials of the allottee companies, unknown officials of the MoEF and other unknown persons. Even though she (Natarajan) was not named in the PE, her questioning in these cases was on the radar after the preliminary investigation revealed that as soon as she became minister, environmental clearances that were not being given for mining in these iron ore mines, were given", an agency official said. The first PE in the alleged scam was lodged by the CBI in relation to the clearance given to Jindal Power and Steel Limited (JSPL) for diversion of forestland for mining in Saranda forests in 2013. Another PE was lodged by the CBI against JSW Steel and unknown officials of the MoEF for alleged irregularities in granting clearance in Ankua Reserve Forest in Jharkhand. Later, the agency lodged three more PEs for granting environmental clearance for the iron ore lease of Rungta Mines in the Ghatkuri Reserve Forest in Jharkhand. JSPL is owned by Congress leader Navin Jindal, while JSW steel is owned by his brother Sajjan Jindal. According to agency sources, the approval was given to these projects even after the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) expressed its reservation about the same. |