Despite facing 15 cases, Anand Singh gets Forest Ministry

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Despite facing 15 cases, Anand Singh gets Forest Ministry

Last Updated : 14 Feb 2020 12:32:31 PM IST

Newly appointed Forest Minister Anand Singh

Criminal breach of trust, criminal conspiracy, dishonesty and encroachment; these are some of the charges, included under the Forest Act, that Karnataka’s newly appointed Forest Minister Anand Singh is facing.

A turncoat MLA from Vijayanagara, Anand Singh is said to have forced Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa to give him the forest portfolio, less than 24 hours after he was given the food and civil supplies ministry.

Yediyurappa’s decision received flak from various quarters and it brought the focus back on Anand Singh's erratic past, who has 15 criminal cases pending against his name from 2008-2013, under Karnataka Forest Act and the Mines and Minerals Act.

Critics have raised several questions about the propriety of appointing a minister who is being prosecuted by the very officers who will report to him.

However, Singh on his part has maintained that the portfolio was allocated to him by the Chief Minister and that he did not ask for it.

Also, he played down all the criminal charges and claimed that the cases against him are like "traffic offences".

"...like traffic violation cases if you have vehicles, similarly- there are naturally cases of violation as the family has been in the mining business for long.", he said.

The matter is under trial before a special court in Bengaluru, with a hearing posted for February 26.