State government is misusing the ACB, BJP complains to Governor
- BJP leaders met the Governor and appealed to dismiss the government alleging misuse of ACB
- If Yeddyurappa has not committed any mistake he can inform that to ACB, says CM
- KPCC president Dr G Parameshwar says misuse of ACB is a pure imagination of BJP
FollowA delegation of senior BJP leaders met the Governor Vaju Bhai Vala and appealed to dismiss the Congress government alleging misuse of Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB). The delegation also alleged phone tapping, failure to maintain law and order by the State government. The delegation was led by Union Minister Ananth Kumar, Opposition leader of legislative Assembly Jagadish Shettar and Opposition leader in Legislative Council KS Eshwarappa.
The delegation requested the Governor to intervene and dismiss the ACB or direct the State government to dismiss it and set right the law and order situation in the State. The BJP also complained against misuse of administrative power by the the Siddaramaiah government.
When mediapersons questioned Siddaramaiah on BJP's allegations of misusing the ACB, the chief minister wondered if the law allowed Yeddyurappa to commit mistakes. Can Yeddyurappa be pardoned even when he has committed a mistake, he asked. "If Yeddyurappa is innocent and believes that he has not committed any mistake, he could submit the same before the ACB. They are simply levelling allegations on the Congress government, for they know Yeddyurappa is wrong. Why was the KAS officer who claimed that he was pressurised to testify against Yeddyurappa was silent all this while? If the government had pressured KAS officer Basavarajendra or ACB misused, he could have complained long back. Why was he silent for so long and now a complaint with the Governor," Siddaramaiah shot back.
"Can the State government sit quietly fearing BJP will protest? There is no end if defaulters are protected. Nobody can escape the long arms of law. BJP leaders have forgotten that it was their own former chief minister DV Sadanada Gowda who had issued notice to investigate the Shivarama Karanth layout denotification case," Siddaramaiah said. Joining him, KPCC president G Parameshwar said BJP's complain that State was misusing the ACB, is purely their imagination.
Earlier, releasing documents of former chief minister Sadananda Gowda ordering investigation into the denotification case, MLC Ugrappa said there was no escape for former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa.
In 2012, acting on a letter submitted by the then Urban Development Department Chief Secretary Aravinda Srivastava, alleging denotification of 257 acres 19 Guntas land at Shivarama Karanth Layout, the then chief minister DV Sadananda Gowda had handed over the case to CID for investigation. On the letter, he had remarked that “to be handed over to CID as per the assurance given at the Assembly taking into account the seriousness of the case”. Does that mean, Sadananda Gowda was resorting to vendetta politics, Ugrappa sought to know from BJP.
Subsequently a committee was formed and a report was submitted by the committee. The then denotification secretary Umesh had reported that action should be initiated against officials involved as the denotification was illegal. A member of the same committee Ayyappa had lodged a complaint with the ACB last June 8. Based on the complaint investigations were carried out and two months after lodging the complaint, in August FIR has been filed. How can this be termed hasty? And in what way, the Congress is resorting to vendetta politics? BJP in desperation is calling Congress revengeful, he explained.
