As the issue of bribery allegations against former Karnataka minister KS Eshwarappa has come back under the scanner, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday, August 24 has said that the charges made by the contractors are ‘baseless’. Speaking to reporters, the Chief Minister said that the state contractors’ association made the allegations after meeting with opposition leaders. “Any baseless statement will be nothing but motivated,” CM Bommai said, adding that he would advise the association to give a complaint to the Lokayukta if there is any specific evidence.
"First of all, the association headed by D Kempanna is not the only association of contractors. It is one among several other such associations. Secondly, there is no meaning in his allegations. It should be noted that he has spoken after meeting (Leader of Opposition) Siddaramaiah," Bommai said in response to a question regarding the allegations. Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, he said that after the association raised the allegations last time, the government had constituted a tender scrutiny committee headed by a retired judge.
“If they have any specific complaint, they can go before the Lokayukta and give a complaint. The Lokayukta has full freedom, it will investigate and we will take strict action against the guilty if any," he added.
A delegation of the Karnataka State Contractors Association led by its president D Kempanna on Wednesday met Congress leader Siddaramaiah, after which the former alleged that the government was corrupt and accused ministers and MLAs of demanding a percentage in commission. Kempanna said the association would be writing another letter to the Prime Minister in this regard and that it will continue its fight demanding an independent judicial probe into the alleged corruption.
Regarding the letter to the Prime Minister, Chief Minister Bommai said everyone has the right to write a letter to the Prime Minister, but other than that there is a system in place to investigate corruption. "After the recent court order (High Court), Lokayukta is fully independent, there are judicial officers there. Let them give a complaint, it will be investigated," he added. The association had earlier written a letter to the Prime Minister in this regard in July last year.
Earlier this year, contractors in Karnataka alleged that the government was withholding payment on completed works allegedly for want of a 40% cut of commission. Santhosh Patil, a Belagavi-based contractor who was hired by the government to lay roads worth Rs 4 crore, alleged that former Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister KS Eshwarappa had demanded a similar bribe. In April, Santhosh took his own life and in a message that he sent to a friend before, he purportedly named Eshwarappa as the “sole reason” for his death. After the incident triggered outrage, KS Eshwarappa resigned from his post as a minister. Last month, the police in Udupi filed a closure report giving Eshwarappa a clean chit. Santhosh Patil’s family moved court on Tuesday against the clean chit.
On Wednesday, the Special Court for Peoples Representatives in Bengaluru, which is hearing the family’s plea asked the Karnataka police to submit all documents pertaining to the contractor's suicide case in which Eshwarappa is the main accused. The counsel for the petitioner, KBN Swamy stated that no documents are attached to the final report in the suicide case and sought directions in this regard to the police department to submit all documents.
The court consented to the demand and asked the police to submit the documents, especially those which they have not attached to the final report. It further directed the Udupi city police, who investigated the case and gave a clean chit to Eshwarappa, to ensure submission of documents by September 17.