Ex-Goa CM granted bail in illegal mining case

Panaji, April 24 (IANS) Former Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat was granted ex-parte anticipatory bail by a trial court here on Monday, over the Rs 35,000 crore illegal mining case which is under investigation.

Kamat, who was summoned by the the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Goa Police Crime Branch to appear before the investigating officer on Monday morning, was granted bail on a bond of Rs 1 lakh.

Kamat later appeared before the SIT team for questioning.

"The next hearing has been fixed for May 2," Parag Rao, Kamat’s lawyer told the media outside the courtroom in Panaji.

Kamat, who headed a Congress-led coalition government in Goa from 2012-17, has been indicted by a Judicial Commission in the illegal mining scam, along with top bureaucrats and officials of mining companies allegedly involved in the scam.

In 2013, the state government appointed an SIT to probe the scam.