Striking a discordant note on setting up the Constitution Club at Carlton House — presently, headquarters of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) — Home Minister G. Parameshwara on Tuesday ruled out shifting the CID headquarters to any other government building in the city considering the security of investigation files.
The Home Minister’s opposition to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s proposal to set up the club at Carlton House comes a day after Legislative Assembly Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa inspected the building.
The proposal to set up the club for legislators, on the lines of the Constitution Club for MPs in New Delhi, in the 136-year-old heritage structure, has not gone down well with officials of the Home Department either.
Letter to CM
“Considering secrecy, security and possibility of leakage of sensitive investigation files, it is not appropriate to shift the CID office to any other government building in the present circumstance,” Mr. Parameshwara said in a letter to Mr. Siddaramaiah.
Mr. Parameshwara, who is also president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee, said the CID had been appreciated as the model institution for the country. Department officials too had submitted a report stating that shifting of the CID office from Carlton House was unsuitable, the Home Minister said, and urged the Chief Minister to drop the proposal.
The Chief Minister and legislators found this European architecture building and lush green ambience suitable for setting up the club. It is learnt that Mr. Siddaramaiah has directed Minister for Public Works H.C. Mahadevappa to take measures to hand over the entire premises of Carlton House to the Assembly Secretariat to set up the club.
Proximity factor
They favoured Carlton House because of its proximity to the Vidhna Soudha and the Legislators’ Home.
“In case the government hands over Carlton House, the club will be set up without moving a single brick of the heritage structure and no tree will be touched,” said K.R. Ramesh Kumar, legislator and general secretary of the Association of Constitutional Club.
However, speaking to a private television channel on Tuesday, the Chief Minister said he was not aware of the proposal on setting up the club at Carlton House.
