CBI summons Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav in illegal mining case

New Delhi, February 28

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has summoned Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav in connection with an illegal mining case in Uttar Pradesh.

The former UP Chief Minister has been asked to join the investigation as a witness on February 29. The summon was issued under section 160 of CrPC.

The case pertains to the issuance of mining leases in alleged violation of the e-tendering process in UP. It was alleged that from 2012 to 2016, public servants, in criminal conspiracy with the other accused, facilitated illegal mining of minor minerals in the state’s Hamirpur district and illegally renewed licenses, despite a ban by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on such activities. It was also alleged that the officers allowed theft of minerals and extorted money from lease-holders as well as drivers. In 2016, the CBI had filed seven preliminary inquiries on the directions of the Allahabad High Court to probe the case. The agency had also conducted searches in several areas of Uttar Pradesh and Delhi in 2019.

According to CBI, Akhilesh Yadav, who was the then chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, had reportedly cleared 13 mining projects in a single day on February 17, 2013, in violation of the e-tendering process. Yadav also held the Minister of Mining portfolio during 2012-13, thus bringing his role under scanner.