Within 24 hours of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) President N. Chandrababu Naidu securing an interim bail in the alleged skill development scam case, the Crime Investigation Department (CID), Andhra Pradesh, has filed another case against him, and his cabinet colleagues with regard to free sand policy and alleged loss to the State exchequer during the previous government’s term.
Then Mines and Geology Minister Peethala Sujatha, former MLAs Chintamaneni Prabhakar (Denduluru) and Devineni Umamaheswara Rao (Mylavaram) were also named as accused in the case filed on Wednesday (November 1) based on a complaint lodged by Director, Mines and Geology, V.G. Venkat Reddy.
Mr. Venkat Reddy lodged the complaint on October 3, 2023. After a preliminary inquiry, the CID filed a case under sections 120(B), 409 r/w 34 IPC, and Sec. 13 (1)(d) r/w Sec. 13(2) of the PC Act, 1988, on November 1. While Ms. Sujatha is mentioned as Accused Number 1, Mr. Naidu, Mr. Prabhakar and Mr. Uma Maheswara Rao are shown as A2, A3, and A4 respectively.
The CID, referring to the information provided by the Director, and subsequent preliminary inquiry, said that the then CM, the then Minister for Mines & Geology, key political functionaries such as MLAs from the specific sand reach areas and other local leaders have also significantly benefited out of the free sand policy.
In its First Information Report (FIR), the CID said that the free sand policy was implemented by the then government without following due procedures. Mala fide intentions were seen in the implementation of the policy, which was pursued hastily. The financial implications arising out of it were not discussed. It is also necessary to note that between the years 2016 and 2019 the number of illegal sand mining cases registered in the State was more than 1,000 and the value of the penalty collected was to the extent of ₹40 crore. “This is in relation to the noticed and detected cases of illegal sand mining which is only a tip of the iceberg,” the report said.
Referring to the revised sand policy, 2019, the report said that the Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation (APMDC) secured a return of ₹766 crore approximately between the years 2019 and 2021 alone towards seigniorage fee etc. Whereas, in pursuance of the “Free Sand policy”, even the statutory dues, running into crores of rupees, to be paid by the exploiters of the mineral resources, had not been secured to the then government which resulted in loss of lawful earnings to the government. The policy also resulted in exploitation of mineral resources by the political functionaries of the then ruling party. ‘‘It is therefore necessary to conduct an investigation into the motivations and the motives for the initiation of the Free Sand Policy, the deliberate and organised and intentional dereliction of duty of regulation imposed upon the statutory authorities and also the complicity of any public servants and others in securing a policy decision to suit commercial needs,’‘ the CID said.
‘’The data would indicate sand ultimately was used by the corporates for their construction activities rather than the general public. There was a need for investigation into formulation of the guidelines without any checks and balances framed by the previous government. From the information emanating out of the analysis done on the entire policy changes and deviations, it is clear that acts of omission and commission have been committed by the then Chief Minister and the Mines and Geology Minister,’‘ the report said.
