The Central Bureau of Investigation has filed a corruption case against former Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan after searching her Chennai home on Saturday.

The case pertains to clearance she had given as environment minister for diversion of forest land, which was allegedly against the law, PTI reported. The environment minister before her, Jairam Ramesh, had not granted land in Saranda forest, Jharkhand, to mining company Electrosteel, but Natarajan had allowed it in 2012, the report said. This was apparently in violation of the Forest (Conservation Act).

The FIR

“Jayanthi Natarajan accorded the approval for diversion of 55.79 hectares of forest land for non-forestry use to ECL,” the FIR said, according to The Times of India. “...The same had been rejected by the earlier minister of state ... without any change in the circumstances after rejection.”

Besides Jairam Ramesh, the Forest Advisory Committee had also rejected Electrosteel’s proposal, The News Minute reported. The company had proposed mining in an area that was part of a vital section of an elephant reserve in Saranda forest, Singhbhum district.

The report added that Electrosteel’s former director Umang Kejriwal was named in the FIR. Unidentified officials told the English newspaper that Natarajan will be questioned soon.

Corruption during Natarajan’s tenure

Natarajan was the environment minister from July 2011 to December 2013. She quit the Congress in 2015, before which Rahul Gandhi had criticised her work. Natarajan, however, had claimed that the party vice-president had interfered with her decisions while she had held the Cabinet portfolio.

There were several allegations of corruption made against her during her time as environment minister. When Natarajan had left the party, and criticised it and Gandhi, several Congress leaders had claimed she was acting under the orders of “new political masters who may have got evidence against her”.