We will move SC, says Jogi

By Sandeep Dikshit

NEW DELHI, MARCH 3. The Chattisgarh Chief Minister, Mr. Ajit Jogi, today asserted his Government would explore all constitutional avenues, including petitioning the Supreme Court, to nullify the sale of Bharat Aluminium Company (BALCO) to Sterlite, a private company.

Claiming that the deal ``stinks'', Mr. Jogi said his Government shortly planned to move the Supreme Court because the deal had contravened an earlier verdict by the apex court which had held that adivasi land could not be allocated to a private entity. Raipur has already sent a legal notice to the Disinvestment Secretary, Mr. Pradeep Baijal, and the State legislature on Friday recorded disapproval of the transaction through a resolution.

Taking time off from his schedule in the capital, Mr. Jogi reiterated allegations of corruption in the transaction and said he would name the beneficiaries of a Rs. 100-crore payoff to push the deal. It is not clear how Mr. Jogi will do this because the BJP-led Government has rejected the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe while winning the vote on this issue in the Lok Sabha.

`JPC must'

On the other hand, Mr. Jogi is insistent that he would make a clean breast of connivance by people in high places before a parliamentary panel. ``If they want the truth to come out then the JPC must be constituted. I would reveal all to the JPC.''

``I will meet the Disinvestment Minister (Mr. Arun) Shourie's challenge,'' he said, referring to the gauntlet thrown by the Minister. Speaking in Parliament earlier this week, Mr. Shourie had asked Mr. Jogi to publicly name the alleged recipients of a kickback without seeking immunity from any legislative fora.

While Mr. Jogi was insistent on escalating the controversy, the BJP hoped his dissent would be short-lived. The party spokesperson, Mr. J.P. Mathur, reminded Mr. Jogi of the need for maintaining cordial Centre-State relations and asked him to desist from quibbling on minor issues. ``The State should cooperate with the Centre on the issue of industrialisation. It should not argue over small issues such as conditionalities for leasing the land and supply of electricity to BALCO.''

The Sterlite owner, Mr. Anil Agarwal, too, sued for peace by assuring massive investments in the company and promising no reduction in the workforce. ``I want to remove any fear from the minds of the BALCO employees regarding job security. We are against retrenchment,'' he said. He did not comment on the charges of kickbacks and irregularities, maintaining that Mr. Jogi backed the concept of privatising PSUs and was mainly objecting to BALCO's evaluation.

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