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Radha Timblo, the Goan mining magnate, who is among the three individuals accused by the Centre of stashing black money in Swiss banks, said she has not seen the copy of the Government’s affidavit to the apex court and would file her reply after studying it.
“I have to obtain a copy of the said affidavit, I have to study the affidavit filed by the Centre and then I shall file my reply in the Supreme Court,” Timblo told local news channels on Monday. Timblo was not available for comment when BusinessLine contacted her office. .
Interestingly, a Central Empowerment Committee(CEC) of the Supreme Court, in its report in December 2012 on Goa’s illegal mining, had pointed out how Goa’s miners, in association with the then State Government, had indulged in gross illegalities in iron ore mining.
Timblo’s name figured in more than one case in the report. In one such case, mining was carried out for decades by executing power of attorney from Karachi to a Goan partnership firm for mining of iron ore in serious breach of law, the CEC said.
The committee said that the mining lease was granted in the name of an individual who had migrated to Pakistan and died there. He was never involved in operating the mining lease or seeking renewal of it. “The lease has been allowed to be operated illegally by a partnership firm comprising Timblo Pvt Ltd, Ms Radha S. Timblo and others. The mining lease has been renewed by the Goa Government in favour of the partnership firm owned and controlled by the Timblo family in disregard and in blatant violation of Rule 37 of Mineral Concession Rules, 1960,” the CEC said.
The CEC pointed out that the renewal of mining lease was allowed by the Goa Government “on the basis of an unregistered power of attorney, stated to have been executed by the lessee while staying in Pakistan and whose genuineness and validity was highly dubious and doubtful”.
The CEC further said that though all facts were available with the State Government, it chose to ignore them and the lease granted in favour of an individual was illegally allowed to be converted into a partnership firm owned by the Timblo family.
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