Bangalore, January 20th
In a show down to External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, Karnataka High Court today refused to nullify the Lokayukta police probe against him on charges that he dereserved forest areas in ecologically frail zones during his term as chief minister during 1999 and 2003. However, in a partial relief to Krishna, the court quashed charges of mismanagement of state-owned Mysore Minerals Ltd (MML), the nodal agency of the state for supply of iron ore to various firms, thereby causing loss to the firm. The order was pronounced by Justice N Ananda on a petition filed by Krishna praying for quashing of proceedings initiated by a Lokayukta Special Court in December 2011 on a private complaint against him. The court allowed the Lokayukta police to continue probe into the charges relating to dereservation of forest area rich in mineral wealth.
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