Congress MLA sentences 6 more people to 7 years in prison in Belekeri iron ore case | Latest News India

Ahead of the assembly elections in the state, Congress MLA Satish Sail was sentenced to seven years in prison in connection with the Belekeri iron ore disappearance case.

A Bengaluru special court on Saturday sentenced Congress MLA Karwar and six others to seven years imprisonment on charges of illegal export of iron ore from Belekeri port.

Following the verdict, Sail’s MLA status was revoked under Article 190(3) of the Constitution, which mandates disqualification for sentences exceeding two years. After the sentence, the MLA and other accused were taken into custody by the CBI.

Besides Sail, other inmates include Chetan Shah, managing director of Ashapura Minechem Ltd.; KV Nagaraj and KVN Govindaraj of Swastik Steels (Hospet) Pvt. Ltd.; K. Mahesh Kumar, partner, Sri Lakshmi Venkateshwara Minerals; and Prem Chand Garg, managing director of Lal Mahal Ltd. PJS Overseas Ltd. and ILC Industries Ltd. Companies such as were also found guilty.

In six cases, the court ruled that the penalty under Article 420 (cheating) of the TMK, Article 120B. He sentenced him to five years’ imprisonment for criminal conspiracy under Article 379 and three years’ imprisonment for theft under Article 379, as well as a fine.

“The court said that the sentences given for different crimes in the case will be applied simultaneously and that the convicts have the right to offset the time they previously spent in detention in each case. “However, the convicts have the option to refer them to the special court and the high court with a request to hear all the sentences imposed in six different cases simultaneously,” he said.

The Belekeri iron ore case first came to light in 2010, following an investigation by the Karnataka Lokayukta, which revealed that around 800,000 tonnes of iron ore was being transported unauthorized from Bellary to Belekeri port without proper permits. These findings led the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to file multiple charges alleging illegal excavation and export of iron ore worth nearly 5 million metric tonnes. ₹2,500 crore. CBI’s investigation implicated several officials and private entities, alleging that local port authorities along with Mallikarjun Shipping facilitated unauthorized exports.

Mallikarjun Shipping, owned by Sail, played an important role in the operation at Belekeri port. Sail, who first won the Karwar seat as an independent candidate in 2013 before joining the Congress, has secured re-election in 2023.

The importance of the case grew after the Supreme Court in 2012 directed the CBI to investigate the illegal extraction of around 5,079 MT of iron ore from the forest areas of Karnataka, focusing on incidents between 2009 and 2010.