PANAJI: A special court Friday discharged former Goa chief minister and BJP's Margao MLA Digambar Kamat in the Kadnekar Mines cases for the alleged condonation of delay in the renewal of its mining lease, which resulted in a loss of Rs 135 crore to the state exchequer. Fifteeen others were also discharged in the case.
An SIT had filed a 700-page chargesheet in Feb 2018 against Kamat, govt officials and others, and recorded statements from 25 witnesses. Kamat - then Congress CM holding the mines portfolio - allowed the condonation of delay by overruling the observations of two IAS officers, the SIT said.
The chargesheet said state govt had no powers to allow condonation of delay.
Justice M B Shah Commission, which investigated the scam, had observed that several mining companies were allowed to fraudulently use the clause of condonation of delay for renewal of their leases.
The commission pegged the loss through the alleged mining scam at Rs 35,000 crore.
Then-SP (crime branch) Karthik Kashyap said taking advantage of the condonation, the Margao-based Kadnekar family, which has stakes in mining in Goa, entered into an agreement with Magnum Minerals Pvt Ltd, thereby transferring the rights of lease without the Centre and state govt's approval and allowing them to mine iron ore.
Kashyap said as per the figures provided by Kadnekar Mines, there was a loss to the tune of Rs 135 crore to the state exchequer.
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