New Delhi, July 21 (IANS) Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa had a "moral responsibility to act" in the wake of reports that the Lokayukta had named him as one of those involved in illegal mining, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said here Thursday.


"The Lokayukta (N. Santosh Hegde) seems to have clinching evidence against the chief minister," Soni told reporters here following media reports that the obmbudsman indicted Yeddyurappa for selling land to a mining company by 20 times the market value and receiving the payment in a family trust.

While the Lokayukta probe was a "continuing legal process", Soni said, persons in public life "had a moral duty to act".

"Let us see how the legal process moves forward," Soni said.

Besides Yeddyurappa, who is currently abroad, mining barons Reddy brothers, Janata Dal-Secular leader H.D. Kumaraswamy and Congress MP Anil Lad are involved in one way or another in illegal mining, Hegde told reporters in Bangalore.

Hegde, a retired judge of the Supreme Court, admitted that his report, yet to be submitted to the government, was leaked late Wednesday and apologised for the lapse.