PANJIM, Feb. 14 -- Team Herald

The Principal District and Sessions Court in Panjim has discharged former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat and 16 others, including miner Ravindra Prakash, in an illegal mining case where they were charged with granting condonation of delay - essentially, an extension - in renewing mining leases, which was said to have resulted in a substantial loss to the state exchequer.

The case stemmed from an investigation by the Special Investigating Team (SIT) of the Crime Branch, which filed a chargesheet in 2018 against Kamat and the others. The charges related to the alleged condonation of delays in renewing mining leases between 2007 and 2012, during Kamat's tenure as Chief Minister. The FIR was based on a complain...