Karnataka government tables bill to appoint recovery commissioner for illegal mining

Bengaluru: The government tabled a Bill in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday that seeks to appoint a recovery commissioner to seize and attach properties derived from illegal mining activities.

As per the Karnataka Appointment of Recovery Commissioner for Seizure and Attachment of Property of Illegal Mining and Proceeds of Crime Bill, a serving or retired officer not below the rank of Additional Chief Secretary will be appointed as the recovery commissioner to supervise recovery proceedings.

The Bill comes two months after Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister HK Patil wrote to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah expressing concerns over administrative apathy towards illegal mining cases.

As per the Bill, the recovery commissioner shall issue directions to subordinate officers for timely enforcement of attachment or forfeiture order, receive complaints from individuals, recommend further legal or criminal action where necessary and so on.

The Bill also provides the recovery commissioner powers of a civil court, and ensures that officers cannot be prosecuted for acts done in good faith.

The government also tabled the Karnataka Crowd Control (Managing Crowd at Events and Place of Gathering) Bill. The Bill was drafted after the June 04 Chinnaswamy Stadium stampede that led to the death of 11 people. The stampede occurred following the Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) maiden IPL triumph in 18 years.

The Karnataka Traditional Migratory Shepherds (Welfare Measures and Protection Against Atrocities) Bill, The Karnataka Lifts, Escalators and Passenger Conveyors (Amendment) Bill and The Karnataka land Revenue (Second Amendment) Bill were also tabled in the Assembly.