Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji

Panaji, Feb 15: In a major relief, a Panaji court on Friday discharged former Goa chief minister Digambar Kamat and 16 others in a corruption case linked to alleged irregularities in the renewal of mining leases.

Kamat’s lawyer, Damodar Dhond, confirmed that the Panaji principal district and sessions judge discharged all accused, stating that no case was made out against them. The official order is awaited.

The case was registered in 2014 by the special investigation team (SIT) based on the justice MB Shah commission report. The report, which probed illegal mining in Goa and Odisha, had held Kamat’s government responsible for allowing the revival of expired Portuguese-era mining concessions between 2007 and 2012.

Kamat, who was then with the Congress, had joined the BJP in September 2022.

The commission had flagged procedural violations and recommended action against officials and ministers involved. Former principal secretary Rajiv Yaduvanshi had earlier claimed that Kamat, the then mines minister, instructed him to overlook delays in mining lease renewal applications.

However, with Friday’s court ruling, Kamat and others stand cleared of all charges.