Shivakumar kin case: HC partially stays investigation

Bangalore, Nov 22 (UNI) The Karnataka High Court today partially stayed investigation by forest officers in a case pertaining to illegal mining, filed against the family members of former Minister and senior Congress leader D K Shivakumar.

Admitting the three criminal petitions filed by the family members of Mr Shivakumar, seeking to quash the FIR on the file of the Range Forest Officer, Forest Mobile Squad, Bellary, registered before the JMFC Sandur and all further proceedings, Mr Justice Kabbin passed the interim order and posted the case to November 27 till when the Government was granted time to file its counter.

The petitioners -- Messrs D K Suresh, K Vinodkumar, K Srinivasa, Usha Shivakumar, Manjula Sharath Chandra, Gangadharamurthy and Pounraj -- submitted that the Mysore Minerals Ltd had allotted certain quantity of iron ore fines and waste dumps to them, for which they had made the entire payment and received allotment letters. The stock delivered had been stocked by M/s Sathya Granites in PKP Yard. The matter was sub-judice regarding the remaining quantity of iron ore not supplied.

The petitioners contended that they had been harassed by forest officers under one pretext or the other and the authorities had been refusing issue of second issue permits for transporting the iron ore dumps outside PKP Yard on the ground that criminal petitions were pending before the High Court regarding the ''illegal'' seizure of four lorries with iron ore fines. To harass them further, the present FIRs had been registered. They argued that the Range Forest Officer had no authority to register cases under the Indian Penal Code and Minor Minerals Regulation Act and there was no allegation in the FIR which could come under the Forest Act.

UNI XR GD MQA KN1940