JOIN USOverlooking the rejections of a proposal by the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) and ignoring the advice of a top official are what appears to have put former Union minister Jayanthi Natarajan in trouble.
Jayanthi is facing a CBI investigation on charges of abuse of her official position and indulging in corruption by permitting a diversion of 55.79 hectares in Saranda Forest in Jharkhand’s Singhbhum for mining by Electosteel Casting Ltd (ECL).
She could not be contacted for her comments, even as the CBI conducted searches at her premises in Chennai, as well as that of other accused, on Saturday.
A proposal for diverting 192.50 hectares for mining iron and manganese ores was made in January 2006, following which the Ministry of Mines asked the Jharkhand government to ensure that Forest Conservation Act and other rules are followed.
The FAC had first rejected the proposal seeking the approval of diversion of 55.79 out of the 192.50 hectares of forest land for non-forestry use in October 2008, after the Jharkhand government sent a proposal to the Ministry of Environment and Forest.
Its contention was that the proposed mining area was part of the core zone of Singhbhum Elephant Reserve and is critical to wildlife conservation.
ECL again submitted a proposal in May 2009, which the FAC did not take up in its August meeting. The Jharkhand government then approached the then minister Jairam Ramesh in September 2009. In April 2010, Ramesh said there was no need for a reconsideration of the proposal.
In July 2011, Jayanthi took charge of the ministry, and a month later, ECL managing director Umang Kejriwal met her regarding the diversion. After receiving information from the state on the project, she gave her approval, though the then Director General of Forests and Special Secretary advised her to refer the proposal to FAC, the FIR said. Jayanthi reportedly approved the proposal “without any change in the circumstances”.
“This approval had been accorded without adhering to the advice of the DGF&SS and against the directions of Supreme Court,” the FIR said.