Have nothing personal against Yeddyurappa: Hegde

Justice Santosh Hegde on Thursday said he had nothing personal against Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa and that he had only done his job by investigating the illegal mining case.

"I have nothing personal aganist Yeddyurappa. I have only done my job," Hegde said in an exclusive interview to CNN-IBN. He said that the report carries information about the accounts of top corporate and mining companies and that he has sent the report against not just Yeddyurappa but other ministers and officers as well. "The Reddys were illegaly supplying ores to the Jindals. The report has recommended prosecution under IPC and the Forest and Mining Act aganist Jindal company," he said. "The dimensions of the scam could well be beyond the estimate given," Hegde added saying that a regulator body must look into the illegal mining scam. "There should be an independant commission or investigation committee looking into the scam. The figures of loss could be double the amount being estimated in the report," he said. Hegde, however, claimed that according to the report no loss was caused to the state by Janata Dal-Secular leader HD Kumaraswamy but further investigations should be carried on with regard to his involvement in the case. "As for Kumaraswamy, it does not show that he caused financial loss to the state but if it shows, then action should be further investigated," said Hedge. When asked about any threats received from the Karnataka government during the course of his investigation, Hegde said that he received no such threat from anyone but a colleague of his was assaulted. "I recieved no threat from the government, but my colleague was assaulted. Everytime my team went for investigations there was a perceived threat," he said. He also clarified that he was not close to any political party and will not join any party, even if offered, stressing on the fact that he is not anti-establishment but he is anti-corruption and maladministration.