“Though the Lokayukta report makes our job a lot easier in Karnataka, we will not rely entirely on those findings. We will conduct our own comprehensive investigations,” Justice R A Mehta, a consultant on the Shah Commission, said.
Karnataka Chief Conservator of Forests U V Singh, who headed the Lokayukta investigations, is also a member of the Shah Commission.
Appointed by the Centre to probe large-scale irregularities in the iron and manganese ore mining sector in the country, the M B Shah Commission’s focus is on Goa, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. The commission has to finalise its report by March 2012.
Mehta said the commission might present individual reports for the states to the Centre before March.
The panel is also looking at the records of the 410-odd mining contractors registered with the Goa Mines Department.
