ORDER :

1. The petitioner is the accused in relation to the various First Information Reports (FIR) registered separately relating to the offence of illegally exporting mined Iron Ore material from Belekere Port without valid permit which is alleged to have been facilitated by the accused-petitioner, who was the then Deputy Conservator of Forests of Bellary District.

2. It is relevant to note that the registration of the FIRs was pursuant to the direction of the Apex Court in Samaj Parivartana Samudaya and Others vs. State of Karnataka and Others, W.P. (Civil) No. 562/2009 and SLP (Civil) Nos. 7366-7367/2010, whereby the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was directed to investigate the alleged illegal mining of Iron Ore in Bellary Reserve Forest area by M/s. Associated Mining Companies.

3. The factual matrix and the legal contentions urged have an overlap in all of the petitions and in order to avoid passing of conflicting orders, the petitions are disposed off by a common order.

BRIEF FACTS:

4. The Apex Court in Samaj Parivartana Samudaya (supra) had constituted a Central Empow