The Congress government in Karnataka, headed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, is in with some serious problems, thanks to what has been described as misconduct of some Ministers. The latest of the cases is that of a senior Minister, H.Y. Meti, who, faced with a sleaze video, resigned on his own volition.
It was only recently that yet another Minister was allegedly found viewing objectionable content, and this was, however, dismissed in quick time since the Minister was only stated to have been viewing some of the messages that he had received on his cellphone. This matter was referred to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which, in turn, conveyed that there was nothing serious in the case and that the intention was to tarnish the image.
It is common knowledge that the CID of the Karnataka police, which is under the control of the State government, is often directed to investigate sensitive cases, particularly those linked with Ministers and senior bureaucrats. There has hardly been an occasion where the CID has held that the case referred to it needs to be chargesheeted; the often submitted report is — no prima facie offence has been established.
Same is the case with the newly constituted Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), which is another wing of the State police. Corruption cases made against government officials and Ministers are forwarded to the ACB for investigation despite some of these cases being investigated by Central agencies such as the Income Tax Department, the Enforcement Directorate or the Central Bureau of Investigation. The ACB virtually runs a parallel investigation and its objective in such exercises is under doubt.
In a recent case, over Rs. 150-crore worth of unaccounted wealth, including a huge stash of new currency notes, gold bars and documents of properties, were seized from the residences of two government chief engineers and two contractors largely engaged in government works. The engineers and the contractors have reportedly conveyed to the Central agencies that only a part of the money belonged to them and the rest to some Minister, indicating that the money was part of kickbacks.
The searches, which commenced in Bengaluru, were subsequently extended to Erode and Chennai in Tamil Nadu. Incidentally, both the chief engineers have been investigated several times in the past on charges of possessing wealth disproportionate to their known sources of income, only to return back to service and a prime posting of their choice, much to the disbelief of their colleagues.
While the Minister in question is a confidant of the Chief Minister, there is yet another Minister who enjoys proximity to both the Chief Minister and the party high command, and his name too figures in the same case, purportedly based on the statement made out by a contractor to the CBI. There is also another Minister hailing from north Karnataka whose name figures in a tender-related fraud.
Mr. Siddaramaiah is thus saddled with several cases in which the names of some members of his Council of Ministers figure, and whether these political leaders will face arrest or be cleared of the charges is anybody’s guess. It is, however, evident that corruption in Karnataka has reached a new high in recent times, apart from the misdemeanours of some public servants, which, in turn, has enabled the Opposition parties to browbeat and corner the government.
(The writer is Resident Representative, The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy, Bengaluru)
